


Christmas in Citadel

by DustinMcDreamy



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Small Town, Anal Sex, Angst, Awkward Flirting, Blow Jobs, Business, Business Trip, CEO, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Falling In Love, Feelings Realization, First Dates, Fluff, M/M, Masturbation, Optional Sex Scenes, Pining, Rimming, Small Towns, Smut, sex scenes can be skipped
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:13:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21811978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DustinMcDreamy/pseuds/DustinMcDreamy
Summary: John Shepard is a high ranking Chief Operations Officer for a Fortune 500 Tech Company. When his mean CEO sends him on a business trip to a small Canadian town to fix the budget or else fire everyone and shut down the branch, John does what he can to save the jobs. What he does not expect to find on his trip is to fall in love with the man who owns his rental house.
Relationships: Kaidan Alenko/Male Shepard
Comments: 8
Kudos: 65





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This work has explicit sexual content in three chapters. If you wish to skip this content, keep an eye out for large asterisks "***". This indicates you may skip to the next chapter without missing details. 
> 
> Chapter One DOES have this content. The notes on Chapter Two will explain what was missed should you decide to skip it.

John Shepard was sitting at his desk at work trying to comprehend the dullest Excel spreadsheet he ever had the misfortune to try to decipher. He had stayed up too late finalizing reports which was followed up with jerking off to porn as a reward to himself; knowing full well it was going to cut into his limited hours of sleep. Had he slept soundly throughout the night, today maybe wouldn’t have been so bad. However, that did not happen, and the restless tossing and turning had caught up to him.

He was the Chief Operations Officer for Elusive Technologies, a prestigious an innovative technology company that was a decade ahead on any other competitor. He oversaw the day to day operations of their warehouses. The Vice Presidents of Research & Development, Operations, and Expansion all reported to him. They all had directors under them who lead managers. Shepard was pretty high up the ladder, and it was not always easy.

His personal assistant, Liara, entered his office carrying a cold brew latte he had requested, with two extra shots of espresso. His office was large, with his walls all made of glass to look high over the city, just reminding him that he was ‘big’, ‘powerful’, and ‘successful’. He was no longer the orphan that was picked up off the streets. Shepard always felt like the biggest impostor sitting in this office with an assistant whose whole career is to make his life easier.

“Thank you, Liara,” Shepard said as he grabbed the coffee from her. “I’m dying over here.”

“Rough night I take it?” Liara asked. Shepard’s mouth was already on the straw, chugging the caffeine as if it were the oxygen he needed to breathe. All he could muffle out was an ‘mmhmm’ and a nod. “Working on anything exciting or interesting today?”

“Not even close,” Shepard said after he had swallowed roughly half of his extra-large coffee in a single take. “The omni-tool looks like the most exciting and most realistic prospect from R&D. But everything regarding operations is just parts, inventory, invoices, orders. It’s too many numbers for my liking.”

“Mr. Vakarian working on anything exciting?” she asked.

Garrus Vakarian was Shepard’s favorite out of his three VP’s, not that he’d admit it. They had a fraternal comradery type of friendship. He was professional and kept all employees at a certain cold distance with the exception of Garrus.

“We’re not expanding until we get closer to a realistic development of the omni-tool, so he’s only in a light prospecting stage for a new area, but otherwise, he’s focusing on retention and loss prevention,” Shepard explained.

“Sounds important,” Liara said.

“We both know that was all the business equivalent of paint drying,” Shepard said. “Have you thought about what you’d like to do once you finish school?”

She was doing community college part-time and knocking out her general education courses, Shepard had learned. She was still undecided, but Shepard promised her a glowing recommendation, and she’d have a good shot at advancing here.

“The way you talk about the Research and Development department, it sounds thrilling. This company is very advanced, and it’s very exciting thinking about it. I like engineering, but it’s not my strongest suit. I’m practical, and I like math. I could work under Miranda Lawson in Legal or Accounting.

Miranda Lawson was one of the other Chief Board Members along with Shepard. As the Chief Financial Officer, she oversaw the VPs of Treasury, Accounting, and Legal. 

“She’d love to have you someday,” Shepard said.

“You’re a cool supportive boss Shepard. I assumed when I took this position, there’d be very little respect. I figured I’d be a glorified office slave to some Wall Street man with a grandeur complex. I appreciate you treating me with respect and care,” Liara said.

“I started even lower than you. It’s a miracle I’m here. You deserve my respect, and the world,” he said.

She smiled and nodded. “You’re too kind. I’ve distracted you long enough and been away from the post for too long. Call me if you need anything,”

“Will do, Liara. Thank you,” Shepard said as she walked out.

He took another look at the spreadsheet and groaned right before an alert went off on his computer.

“BOARD MEETING. 15 MINUTES. BOARD ROOM.”

Shepard sighed a breath of relief. These board meetings were usually a waste of his time, but he’d do anything other than look at his own displays any longer.

He grabbed his L-Tab, the Elusive technologies brand tablet that he used for work, and he headed out of his office.

“Board meeting, Liara,” Shepard said on his way out as he made his way to the elevator. From the other wing of the L-shaped building, Kasumi Goto also approached as well. She was the Chief Human Resources Officer who oversaw a Vice President of Human Resources in addition to the VP of Communications and the VP of Marketing.

“Good Morning, Shepard,” Kasumi stated in a very formal tone. She was very proper and precise with her words, her posture, and her mannerisms. He also felt like she knew more than she let on at any given point. She was a little scary, but perfect for the position.

“Morning, Kasumi,” Shepard replied. Kasumi wasn’t one for small talk. She didn’t share much about her personal life, and Shepard wasn’t one for small talk either. But he had a favorable opinion of her.

The door opened and they stepped inside. They were using the executive elevator which was reserved for them, their VPs, and their direct assistants since they were on the top few floors of an already massive skyscraper. There was only one more floor above theirs, which held the board room and the CEO’s office. If there was a wait, someone was just dropped off on the top floor. It had to be Miranda, she was always the first in the room.

The door opened, and they turned right to head to the board room. The north wing was the CEO’s wing.

It was an unnecessary walk decorated like a small museum with sculptures of their building, their inventions, and other displays that were also replicated on the first floor.

The walls to the board room were also modernly made of glass, but frosted with golden hue for privacy. The company’s colors were gold, silver, and bronze.

For marketing purposes, the company said these colors were to represent success, dedication, and achievement. However, if you asked Elun Sivvmann, the CEO, Gold was the priority because there was no other option. The bronze represented dirt and rust, which is all the company was if they were not the leading innovators in the market. The silver represented that the gray area that shouldn’t exist. The first-runner up was just a loser who couldn’t quite make it.

Kasumi and Shepard sat in their usual places. “Good Morning, Miranda,” Shepard greeted.

“Shepard,” Miranda replied as she didn’t look away from her L-Tab. She never took a moment to rest and she didn’t seem like she let loose much. She was, however, an immaculate leader. All of her departments ran like a well-oiled machine.

Kasumi and Shepard sat down at their usual chairs, and looked at their own tablets for a few minutes before Jacob Taylor walked in. He was usually the last to arrive, and was only a few minutes ahead of Mr. Sivvmann, so they all put their stuff away. Mr. Sivvmann liked them appearing they were all attentively waiting for him as opposed to killing time until he arrived.

Jacob Taylor was the Chief Commercial Officer on the board. He oversaw the Vice Presidents of Residential Sales, Commercial Sales, and Customer Service.

Elun Sivvmann entered the room and made his way to the front of the table. “Good Morning, everybody,” he greeted. He wasn’t a warm man at all, but he wasn’t as cold as he could be. He was almost exactly like Miranda. Maybe Miranda wanted to be like him. Maybe they were just a similar trope of personality. They were distant because of their coldness and professional boundaries. Kasumi was warm, and could be a good friend if she allowed it, but she kept the same boundaries for professionalism. Jacob was the only person he felt he _could_ have a friendship with, but they were too busy and Jacob was the floor below his with Miranda. It was probably better this way anyways.

“Operations Report?” Elun asked. He liked to keep these meetings direct and as brief as possible. Shepard was at least thankful for that. There were few things worse in the work world that long drawn-out meeting that didn’t need to be.

Shepard opened up his tablet to review his notes. “Expansion is currently in soft-surveillance stages of our newest factory and distribution locations when it is time to begin manufacturing the omni-tool. We have three locations narrowed down: Rockford, Illinois; Columbus, OH; and Kansas City, MO. The Midwest as you know has slightly lower costs of operations as opposed to major cities on the East and West coasts. The central region will allow efficient transport to each coast as opposed to having to shipping product and materials from one side of the US to the other.”

“Why not revisit Canada?” Elun asked.

“Vancouver and Toronto were considered, but that fell into the East Coast vs West Coast shipping issue. Besides, we know expanding into Canada was a good PR move to establish ourselves internationally, but creating American jobs has always been a strong selling point, especially when our largest competitors are exploiting children in sweatshops in vulnerable countries.” Shepard explained.

“Precisely,” Elun said. “I am glad to hear Vancouver is off the table because I wanted to discuss that. Vancouver is underperforming.”

Shepard gave Elun a confused look. “All of our branches are well above our target margin.”

“According to your own reports, it’s earned thirty-three percent less in profits,” Elun replied.

“That is true, but that location is still above the threshold for the target goals they had set for the fiscal year. Expansion and Retention is already investigating the issue,” Shepard.

“I want it investigated further,” Elun said. “I want you and Vakarian to visit that branch. Unless a plan is set to get profits back to ninety percent of what they were last year, I want that shut down.”

The air became tense and thick in the board room. They hadn’t shut one of their plants down before.

“With all due respect, sir,” Shepard interrupted. “Vancouver and Toronto are strong assets in delivering product to Canada. Shutting Vancouver down will detriment our abilities to provide to our Canadian customers.

“Seattle can pick up the slack. It could be a growth opportunity for them,” Elun said.

“Our American money gets us a little further in Canada due to the conversion rate. Shutting them out to expand Seattle is not a good idea,” Shepard insisted.

“Well then, you and your Vice President better do a damn good job at cleaning up their mess. You fly out in two days, you’ll be there for about a month, and I’ll have you back after New Year. If you have any plans for family and friends I’ll arrange extra flights to bring you back here for the holiday until things are wrapped up. Send your reports and plans to Miranda for second opinions and verification.”

Elun very rarely gave them ultimatums like this one. And Shepard didn’t like it. He didn’t want to fire a whole factory of workers right after Christmas. He didn’t want to jeopardize other branches as well due to this weird fixation Elun had with Vancouver.

“Yes sir,” Shepard conceded.

“Good. Move on to operations.”

Shepard was back at his condo after the long work day and was packing his suitcases for his trip. Liara and his VP of Operations would need to cover everything in his absence. He had been looking at every document and data report he could regarding the Vancouver branch. It was technically located about half hour away from the city limits in a small town called Citadel. Being outside city limits drastically reduced overhead costs.

He sat on the edge of his bed and looked out the window to watch the snowfall. Here he was; an accomplished and successful man according to society. He had this empty condo with nobody to share it with. He had no time to date or do anything more than hookup. Once guys found out he was well-off, they tried to make Shepard be a sugar daddy. He didn’t want that shallow of a connection, but sometimes he was tempted when it felt like it was the only way he’d have anything remotely like a relationship. He didn’t even have the time to take care of a cat. It was just this large space he could abandon for an indefinite period of time and come back to when he needed.

He didn’t even have anyone to see on Christmas to accept Elun’s offer to fly him back for Christmas, but Elun knew both he and Vakarian were bachelors and it was likely just to look like less of an asshole. He could visit his adoptive father, David, but their Christmases together were purely performative for them both. The suffering would be less for each of them if they were by themselves.

His L-phone pinged with an email from Elon’s assistant. It had his flight information and the home he and Garrus would be renting while they were in Citadel. He looked through some of the photos, and it was a stunning estate. It was two-story, ornate and historical, but looked up to date and well maintained. Many people would kill to have a house like that.

“I guess we’re going to be roommates,” Shepard texted Garrus. He looked over the reports from the branch some more before his phone chimed with a response.

“Please don’t be worse than my college roommate. Clean up after yourself and don’t fuck any of my girlfriends,” Garrus replied.

Shepard chuckled at the response. “I’ll do my best.”

He exited out of the documents and decided it was time to hit the sack before looking at the last few photos of the house. The last one was a photo of the owners, who were renting it out. It was an elderly man and woman and presumably their son. The son was a very attractive man who looked only slightly younger than Shepard. He had beautiful black hair and was fairly muscular and in-shape like Shepard. At least the city would have eye candy, if this guy was still around. He likely wouldn’t even run into him.

*******

*******

As Shepard laid in bed, naked and restless for his trip, he thought about a fantasy about the house coming with that man who would give him room service or clean in a sexy outfit. He found himself subconsciously reaching down to stroke himself. It had been far too long since he’d gotten any with a real person.

He ran his free hands over his torso and his pecs, pretending they were the hands of that man from the photo. Maybe he was a local masseuse who would give Shepard a happy ending massage after being distracted by Shepard’s dick that would be exposed after one of them ‘accidentally’ knocked his towel away.

His body was getting warmed and his breathing was becoming strained as he approached closer to his orgasm. Just a few more thoughts about the man’s plump lips is what caused Shepard to go over the edge and spill onto his own groin and hand. He reached over to the end table and slid open a drawer to grab a spare cloth he kept stored for this particular reason to get himself dry and cleaned off. He chucked the rag to the floor and quickly fell asleep from the exhaustion and orgasm-induced endorphins.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shepard got himself off to a photo of Kaidan at the end of the last chapter. This will be referenced about twice, but that is all.

Shepard and Garrus flew to Vancouver on the company’s private jet. It was approximately a six hour flight from New York City. It was about a forty-five minute drive from the private airfield to get to Citadel. Sivvmann’s assistant also arranged for three cars to be waiting for them to take them into town; one for Shepard, one for Garrus, and the third was to escort the drivers back after the drop off.

According to Shepard’s research, it was a smaller town, approximately twenty thousand people. People in the town either worked at the factory or at a store or restaurant within the town, for the most part. Only about ten percent of the town went to college and got corporate work in Vancouver. Many people were born, raised, and would die in Citadel. Nothing was wrong with any of that, but Shepard knew that they would not like him and Garrus.

The entire jet ride and car ride, Shepard was working on this case when Garrus wasn’t distracting him. Shepard would need to verify more information with the branch manager of this plant, but in the last two days, Shepard found easy cuts to make and had recovered five percent of the twenty three he was tasked to recover. It was a good start potentially, but bigger and more drastic changes would need to be made. He wanted to do this without firing anybody at all.

Their cars finally arrived at the house, and it was even prettier in person. It was such a shame the actual owners were not staying in it.

Shepard got out of his car and stepped out to retrieve the luggage from the back. Shepard thought New York was bad in the winter, Canada was even colder. But this town was a lot more beautiful than New York. In New York, the snow was gray almost immediately and there was too much commotion to look and enjoy it. It constantly needed to be plowed out of the streets and out of the sidewalks. It was a hassle. Here, it was a sight.

Shepard turned as he heard the sound of the houses’s front door open and an older man came to step out.

“Are you John Shepard and Garrus Vakarian?” the man asked.

“Yes we are. I’m Shepard,” Shepard greeted, extending a hand out to the man, who shook it back with a firm, respectable grip.

“William Alenko,” the man greeted. “Let me grab your bags.”

“I appreciate the offer, but no need, sir,” John replied as he held up his duffle and his suitcase so neither dragged in snow.

William held the door open for the both of them and they both thanked the man. “Just please use the rug to wipe your shoes and take them off at the door.”

Shepard and Garrus did as asked. They had each gotten a PDF of the rental rules that Shepard read. He knew Garrus wouldn’t so Shepard told him to do it on the plane. It wasn’t anything outlandish. No shoes, no food in the bedrooms, no pets, no guests, no smoking, no parties, clean all messes and clean dishes prior to checkout.

“Did you boys read over the rules?” William asked.

“Yes, I made him read over them on the plane. This is a lovely home, and we’ll make sure to leave it in its pristine condition,” Shepard said.

“Glad to hear it. You two seem like a lovely couple and not a troublesome bunch,” he said.

Shepard chuckled and Garrus just shook his head. “We are not a couple. He’s my boss. I’m straight, but you were right with him at least.”

“My apologies, gentlemen. This is a very welcoming town, regardless. My son Kaidan is gay as well and he hasn’t had any hard time at all, aside from some arrogant high school chumps, but those assholes are everywhere, I’m afraid.”

“I understand. Is your son still in Citadel?” Shepard asked in the most nonchalantly way possible. He couldn’t admit to this man that he’d already jerked it to a photo of his son the other night.

“He is,” William said. “There’s a bar in town called The Normandy. You may catch him bartending there. There’s a few bars in town, but Normandy is best.”

“We’ll be sure to check it out,” Shepard said.

“My number is on top of the rules page for any emergencies. I’ll leave you to it. Keys are on that table,” William said.

“Thank you, Mr. Alenko,” Shepard said as the man headed out. Shepard looked around at the beautiful foyer and carried his bags up the stairs.

“Dibs on the master bedroom!” Garrus exclaimed.

“Fine, you big baby,” Shepard said. He looked around for what was not the master bedroom per Garrus. The master was gorgeous; it had double doors leading to it, and Shepard saw a spacious bathroom attached within it. The king sized bed had canopy drapes and there was an additional couch and TV. “Bastard,” he grumbled.

The guest room wasn’t bad either. It was spacious enough for what he needed, and the other bathroom was around the corner. He would be fine with the queen sized bed.

He set his stuff down and then headed back down stairs. Garrus was in the living room in a recliner watching a football game. He hadn’t even removed his suitcases from the front foyer.

“I’ll head to the store and grab groceries. Do you cook for yourself?” Shepard asked.

“Not really,” Garrus asked. “But I doubt this town has an abundance of gourmet salad placed to keep this pristine figure of mine. I can’t keep being a lady killer if I get chunky. Can you get me some salad kits and some beer?”

“I feel like the beer negates the purpose of the salad,” Shepard teased.

“But it’s better than a beer and a burger,” Garrus argued.

“Fair,” Shepard said. “I’ll be back.”

The town was very quaint, yet, historically beautiful. Small towns were either very charming or incredibly run down, and this was not the case. The citizens must’ve had great pride for their town and taken good care of it.

At the grocery store, Shepard couldn’t help but feel a lot of eyes on him. He wasn’t dressed very formally, but his winter wear was new and from a designer brand. Perhaps he stuck out more than he thought. Or maybe everybody knew every one, and they knew he was from out of town.

A chipper red head with the name “Kelly” on her badge greeted Shepard as it was his turn to have his items rang up at the register.

“Good Evening, Sir,” she greeted. “I’m Kelly. I don’t believe I’ve seen you here before.”

“I’m in town on business,” he said.

“What’s your name?” she asked politely as she quickly scanned the items and placed them in the bags neatly and well organized despite her hastened pace.

“Shepard,” he said flatly. “Do you know every customer here?”

“Pretty much,” she said. “We’re a close community. Everything closes when we have a town festival or event and pretty much everyone is always in attendance.”

“I’ll only be here for about a month,” he said flatly.

“Well, it was great to meet you, and I hope we get to see you more while you’re here. Your total is $94.72.”

He paid with his company card and brought the groceries back to the rental house. Garrus was no help putting them away, but he didn’t mind. Shepard looked around the gorgeous kitchen and soaked it all in. He rarely thought about marriage and a family, but being in a house like this, the thought about sharing an intimate space with someone felt……..blissful.

Garrus’s snoring from the living room quickly ruined Shepard’s daydream. He put in his Bluetooth L-Pods and watched a movie on his tablet to drown out the noise as he ate before heading back to his room for the night. He crunched more numbers and reviewed documents from the warehouse more before tiring himself out. He set alarms on his phone, took a melatonin pill to help him sleep in this foreign bed, got underneath the covers, and waited for sleep to drift over him and pull him into a slumber.

Shepard and Garrus arrived at the warehouse the next morning for their first day of work in Citadel. The receptionist, Samantha Traynor, greeted them warmly and presented them with their badges before escorting them to Mr. Moreau’s office. Jeff Moreau was the factory manager, and would be working closely with Shepard and Garrus during their visit.

The door to his office was already open, but Samantha still knocked to announce her presence.

“Yes, Samantha?” he asked, looking up from his computer.

“Mr. Shepard and Mr. Vakarian from the New York office have arrived,” she introduced. She stepped aside and allowed Shepard and Garrus to walk in.

Jeff wheeled his way around his desk to maneuver towards his guests. Shepard took another few steps to meet him halfway.

“Mr. Moreau, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Shepard stated, reaching his hand down to shake Jeff’s hand.

Jeff said nothing, but at least shook his and Garrus’s hands. “I can’t say I am very thrilled about this visit. We’re performing well, and I manage nearly two-hundred hard working, small town people. Now I am expected to grovel to some suited-up office white collar men who want to shut us down in the sake of money?”

Shepard was worried this is exactly how this was going to go down. He was against this task as well. He knew this branch was important and operating with a generous profit, and didn’t want to see it close because Elun was an asshole.

“Me. Moreau, I am on your side. Shutting down this branch would be detrimental to our nation-wide operations. This is coming right from the CEO, and I am against it. I’m not saying this to blow smoke up your ass. But he’s given us an ultimatum, so in order to meet his demands or get enough progress to change his mind, we’ll need your full cooperation and a lot of flexibility. We’ll have to make some hard sacrifices, but if we do what we can, we can keep a lot of people here,” Shepard stated.

Jeff just looked at them with a stoic expression. “If you’re truly here to help us, then this budget gets done without pay cuts or losing a single employee,” Jeff said.

Shepard’s current budget was done without removing any payroll until he got Jeff’s consent, but if they couldn’t trim any at all, this wasn’t going to be easy. “The priority will have to be making any cuts that don’t cause us to violate labor, safety, or environmental laws. I’m happy to work with you to try it that way, but if we close to our time limit and we’re not close, I need you to come to terms that a few employees moving on to different careers is better than this entire place coming down.”

Moreau just grunted and rolled his wheelchair back to his desk. “Then let’s get started. Let me give you the tour and have you meet the workers.”

They made their way around the plant. They started in a section of the warehouse that was lines with ceiling-high shelving that needed forklifts to get to high sections.

“This is Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory. Everything comes in through these doors, gets catalogued, sorted, or placed on the assembly line, and then makes its way around the plant, and ends on the other side of this section to be sent out,” Jeff said. He put his fingers to his mouth and let out a loud attention-grabbing whistle. “Vega, get over here!”

Shepard saw as the bulkiest man he’d ever seen in his life, even including pornography, jogged over. He watched as the man’s pecs bounced and he could feel himself getting a semi. He tried to shift his focus squarely to the man’s face.

“This is James Vega. He’s my powerhouse of this department. Not only could he pick me up and hurl me to the other side of this warehouse, but he’s good leadership. He keeps this area running like a fine-oiled machine. Vega, this is John Shepard and Garrus Vakarian from Corporate’s Executive Team. They’re here to evaluate us,” Jeff stated.

“Are we in trouble or anything?” Vega asked concerned, crossing his arms and standing upright. Shepard didn’t know if Vega was trying to look semi-intimidating, or if he just was because of his mass.

“The budget is not what the CEO would like it to be and we’re doing an audit,” Shepard said. “That’s all we can disclose for now.”

James shot Jeff a questioning look and Jeff just have a slight nod. “Well if there’s anything I can do to help, let me know. But my partner Cortez has the focus on inventory management, and if there’s numbers and money involved, and I assume he’ll be the point of contact on that.”

“Well thank you, I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of the two of you,” Shepard said, reaching out to shake the man’s hand. James’s grim was firm, and he likely wasn’t even trying. In fact, he was probably trying to be gentle. How was this town full of gorgeous hunks?

“Let’s make our way to assembly,” Jeff said and he turned his wheelchair around. “About fifty-five percent of our employees are manufacturing and assembly workers, putting the products together. I do want to give props to your R&D team who make these relatively easy to produce with the right equipment. Almost all of our employees haven’t gone beyond a high school diploma or associates. Anyone fortunate enough to attend college and get a degree do corporate work in the city. Shutting down this plant will really fuck up a lot of lives. Everything else in town is part-time and doesn’t offer benefits, and there’s definitely not enough for everyone. If we shut down, this entire town’s economy and way of life is obliterated,” Jeff explained.

“I am aware of the stakes, I really am. I was adopted by a single military man. I wasn’t born a rich asshole like you might expect. I am in your corner. I wouldn’t have the conscious to ruin lives like this. Mr. Sivvmann has none.” Garrus let out a chortle at that remark.

“Well, you come across as believable. You’re either genuine or a great con man.” Jeff said.

They arrived at a station where a woman in a hijab and a surgical mask was working.

“Don’t offer a handshake to Tali, it’s impolite,” Jeff whispered before they got closer. “Tali, please spare a minute.”

Tali turned around at the sound of her boss’s voice and made her way towards them. “Greetings, everyone,” she waved.

“Tali, this is John Shepard and Garrus Vakarian from New York Corporate. They’re on the CEO’s board,” Jeff explained.

“It is nice to meet the both of you,” she said through the mask. “I apologize for the mask, it’s for medical reasons. Only the hijab is religious.”

“That is no worries. Is there anything in this warehouse that is a detriment or not up to code?” Garrus asked.

“I do not believe so,” Tali said. “I, personally, have sensitive lungs in general. I wear a mask sometimes in public usually too, but I have been cleared by my doctor to work, and she even toured the warehouse to verify. Joker is very accommodating and if I need extra breaks or need to leave early, he’s always put my safety first.”

“And, are you Joker?” John asked.

“Yeah, it’s my nickname. Having everyone call me Mr. Moreau is uncomfortable. It’s either Jeff or Joker,” he said.

“So, Tali, what is your role here?” Garrus asked.

“I am the supervisor for the workers in this area. This is phase two, so installation of tech boards and circuitry is key here. If you came from receiving, you passed phase one which focuses on transfer from inventory to the assembly line, framing, and bases of the products. It will move from here to phase three which is cosmetics, coverings, and skins. Phase four is quality and testing, phase five is packaging, and then it ends up in outbound shipping,” Tali explained.

“Hence why you can see why such a high percentage of employees are placed somewhere along this line. And, with the amount of products being exported, we can’t really afford to lose anyone along this path,” Joker argued in favor of his workers.

“Are people being laid off?” Tali asked nervously.

“We’re here for an audit on process improvement and budget reviews,” Shepard said, avoiding the question. “Neither Garrus nor myself want to see layoffs happen.” That part was honest, at least.

“Yo, did I just hear something about layoffs?” asked an angry feminine voice from a few feet away.

“Oh great,” Joker said. “Zero, get back to your station!”

“Who are these suits?” ‘Zero’ asked rudely.

“This is Mr. Shepard and Mr. Vakarian, your COO and his Vice-President,” Joker said sternly. “We’re doing an audit.”

“So we getting pink slipped or what? We’re all hard workers and most of these people you couldn’t care less about got families, you know? This factory is the only thing holding this town together,” she said argumentatively.

“Jack,” Tali said sternly. “Do not be rude to our guests. Get back to your station.”

“Whatever,” she said. “It’ll be a big mistake for your company shutting us down.”

She was finally out of hearing distance and Garrus chuckled. “That one’s a firecracker.”

“She is stubborn, headstrong and has terrible bedside manager, but she’s one of my best workers in this whole place, She acts like she doesn’t care, but she cares a lot about her work ethic and the people here. Her work is always accurate and she’s always on time,” Joker explained. “Maybe it’s this town. It’s nice, but living here ain’t always easy. This factory is a saving grace for many people. My turnover rate is minimal. I got a lot of people wanting in and hardly nobody leaving. We treat them well and pay them well. As you know, onboarding a new employee is a lot more expensive than retaining an existing one in the long run.”

“Yeah I noticed raises have been generous in the documents you sent,” Shepard said.

“But I have been well above the budget your department has set for me,” Joker countered. “And now it’s not good enough?”

“I tried to explain that to Mr. Sivvmann. He wasn’t having it,” Shepard defended. “Let’s not panic, and let’s not have the employees panic.”

“Of course,” Jeff agreed. “Let me show you to the meeting room. It’s never used. There will be space for the both of you there during your stay.”

Shepard and Garrus were lead to the meeting room and they each took an end of the table. The room had an overhead projector so they could project graphs and data onto a retractable tarp, like in schools.

Garrus worked with the inventory department the rest of the day to see how much excess was being ordered, what was no longer necessary to the products they were building now, and what the most costly items were. Shepard stayed in the meeting room and continued to audit the branch’s documents.

The end of the work day arrived and all of the factory workers headed home. Shepard wanted to stay and work, but Jeff had insisted Shepard leave too so they could lock up. He promised Shepard some spare keys soon. He had asked Jeff where a good bar was in town. Jeff said a lot of the guys head to Chora’s outside city limits for the dancers, but if he wanted something respectable, he should head out to Normandy, which Shepard recalled is what William Alenko had recommended as well.

Shepard thanked Jeff and put in the directions into his GPS and made his way there. It was in between the factory and the rental house, right on Main Street, which would be convenient. He parked in the small lot behind the building as only so many cars could park along the curb on the street itself. 

The bar was on the smaller side, but it was quaint. It had billiards and darts as expected, and about five tables that sat four each. The bar counter itself could fit about six. One gentleman was at the bar, and there were two tables full. By the uniforms they were wearing, they had come from the factory. He recognized the angry girl ‘Zero’, and Tali. The others he wasn’t sure of. He hoped Zero wouldn’t cause a scene. 

The bartender came out from the back room with a refilled container of cut lemons and limes. He recognized the man from the photo. This was Kaidan. He was even cuter in person. The bartender glanced over at Shepard, and he felt his heart race with nervousness. Shepard gave an awkward head nod of acknowledgement as he made his way to the bar and took one of the seats.

Kaidan set the container down at his station and grabbed a small napkin and placed it in front of Shepard.

“So you’re the new guy,” Kaidan said.

Shepard chuckled. “I see I’ve been outed. Word gets out fast.” He turned to look over at the employees to see if they were staring. ‘Zero’ was and so was another girl he didn’t recognize. The stranger girl winked and chuckled.

“That’s my best friend Ashley,” Kaidan said. “She won’t bite. Jack on the other hand will, and she’s likely rabid.” 

Shepard fought back a laugh, but his face was forced into an entertained smile. “And who do I have the pleasure of speaking to right now?” He did his best to say it flirtatiously and give a charming, interested smile. Even though he had been told who he was, he wanted to make the conversation, and not appear like a stalker who had rubbed one out to hsi photo a few days prior.

“My name is Kaidan Alenko,” he said warmly, with a faint smile. Shepard had no way of knowing if William told him to keep an eye out for a gentleman from New York who he was sending Kaidan’s way. If he did, he didn’t comment on it.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kaidan,” Shepard replied.

“What’s your poison?” Kaidan asked.

“Don’t suppose you have any American beers on tap?” Shepard asked.

“Only Bud Light. Aside from that, we have some quality Canadian Lagers that I’d recommend, especially if you’re only in town temporarily. Taste something new while you’re here.”

Shepard strived to have his mind not go to the gutter with that comment. “Sure, why not? What do you recommend?” 

“If you like light and traditional, we have Tofino. If you like things rich and flavorful, try the Honey Brown.”

“I’ll try the Honey Brown. Life could use a little flavor,” Shepard said.

“Alright,” Kaidan said as he began to pour Shepard a cold glass of lager. He felt someone come up behind him and he turned.

“Hello, Mr. Shepard,” the woman introduced. “I’m Ashley Williams, best friend of Kaidan here.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Ashley,” he said, sticking his hand out for a handshake. 

“Sorry if the other workers are uncomfortable or tense around you. We’re all just expecting the worst,” Ashley said.

“I understand their concern. My plan is to make the adjustments to the budget that Mr. Sivvmann is requesting to meet his demands and keep the plant open with everyone possible,” Shepard said. 

Kaidan set the glass in front of Shepard. “Leave the man alone, Ash. Or I’ll recommend he fire you first.”

“Well I guess you’re going to have to take me in then, buckaroo,” Ashley teased. “How about you be  _ very nice _ to Mr. Shepard to prevent that happening instead?”

Shepard picked up on the implications in her voice and hid his entertained smile by drinking the lager. “Oh screw off, Ashley,” he replied, whipping a towel at her direction. She laughed as she headed back to her table. “I’m sorry about her. She’s definitely not the type to change her personality around superiors.”

“And I don’t want her to, trust me,” Shepard said. “It’d be easier to get through these next few weeks without everyone looking at me with fear.”

“Well I won’t look at you that way,” Kaidan promised. His voice was soft and sincere, and he gave Shepard an understanding look. Shepard felt he could get lost in his eyes. He desperately wanted to cup his face and hold their foreheads together to get a closer look at them, and maybe have their lips get acquainted as well. 

“Well, thank you, Kaidan. That means a lot,” Shepard replied.

Their moment was interrupted when Jack called out from the table. “Hey Good Lookin’, we need another round over here!”

Shepard chuckled while Kaidan rolled his eyes. “I’ll be right back,” he said. Kaidan got the workers another round of beer and Shepard decided it’d be best to head out after his one. He gave Kaidan a generous tip and said he hoped he ran into him soon. Kaidan thanked him and wished him well. Shepard turned back one last time before walking out of the doorway to see if Kaidan was still watching him, maybe checking him out, and he was. Kaidan smiled sincerely and waved him goodbye before Shepard left completely. Shepard went to bed that night with butterflies in his stomach thinking about how that had been the best beer he’d ever had, solely for the company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the annoying formatting issues. They happen automatically when I copy it from my document. The indents just vanish.


	3. Chapter Three

The next day, Shepard was canvassing the town as part of his research while Garrus monitored the branch. Shepard wanted to get quotes from realtors about land value, local taxes, and general cost of living to additionally contest changing locations. If he could prove this area was more affordable than another region or Seattle, he may be able to convince Mr. Sivvmann to allow this branch to stay open even on the worst case that they can’t get their budget to what Elun demanded it be.

He got back in his rental car and started up the engine. He was thankful the car heated up quickly and efficiently in this Canadian cold.

His next stop in mind was the library, but his stomach began to growl. He quickly pulled up his GPS and looked where he could get food. The options were pretty slim. There were a few fast food joints, but not a whole lot of home restaurants. One stood out: Citadel’s Diner. At least they were direct. Diner food sounded good right now. He made his way through the town to the diner.

He stopped inside and the place looked clean and upbeat. Everything looked sort of like a 1950’s living room. The walls were a deep teal with wooden trimming, there were house plants in the corners and between some booths, and there were retro paintings hung up on the walls for decor. 

A woman which was the epitome of a 1950’s housewife came to approach to Shepard much to his surprise. “Good Afternoon, sir. Welcome to my diner. Are you by any chance Mr. Johnathan Shepard?” She had bobbed brown hair, thick rimmed glasses, pearl earrings, and a vintage dress that was a colorful blue on top with a ruffled bottom that came to cover her knees. 

“It’s just John, or just Shepard,” he said awkwardly.

“It’s very nice to meet you Just John or Just Shepard,” she greeted, trying to hold back her own laughter. “That was a joke. My name is Edi Moreau. I’m Jeffrey Moreau’s wife. He’s the Branch Manager at the Elusive Tech factory.”

“Ahh, yes. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Edi,” John said as he reached out to shake her hand. “Jeff is a very respectable man. I look forward to working with Jeff more over the next few weeks.”

“I am glad to hear you regard him highly. He is a good man. Let me bring you to a seat. Would you like a booth, table, or the counter?” she asked politely.

“Booth, please.”

Edi grabbed a menu from the greeter stand and led him just a few feet over. There were a few patrons in the restaurant right now, but it wasn’t very busy. “I will have Kaidan assist you as soon as possible.”

Shepard’s heart skipped a beat. Kaidan worked here too? Now he was going to think he was a stalker of some sort. Did his shirt have wrinkles? Were his teeth cleaned? Just as he was worrying, he saw a figure in his peripheral vision and he put on his best poker face before turning. There he was, the same gorgeous man from the bar only this time he had a cute powder blue short sleeve button down shirt, black slacks, and an apron tied around his waist. It was positively adorable.

“Hello again,” Kaidan greeted.

“Hey,” Shepard said as calmly and cool as he could. “It’s good to see you here. You must be a busy guy.”

“I try. The factory is pretty much the only full time work around here unless you’re a mechanic, plumber, or contractor so most people in town work two part-time jobs. I like doing different things, it mixes it up a bit, prevents it from getting too dull,” Kaidan explained.

“It makes sense. That’s a good outlook,” Shepard agreed.

“I didn’t mean to be unprofessional just now. Talking about the job and stuff. Force of habit with a close community I guess. What can I get you to drink?”

“You don’t have to apologize, Kaidan. Like I said last night, no fear around me, please,” Shepard explained.

“You did say that and I did promise to not do that,” Kaidan agreed, smiling at Shepard.

Shepard smiled back. Was Kaidan nervous because he was interested, or because he was nervous about the town? He really hoped Kaidan wasn’t subconsciously thinking of him as the bad guy like the rest of the town was. “I’m good with just water,” Shepard said. 

“Can do,” Kaidan said. “Do you need more time to look at the menu?” Shepard knew what he wanted, but he definitely couldn’t have it here in the restaurant.

“Yes, please,” Shepard said.

“Ok, I will be back,” Kaidan replied. He turned to head back to the kitchen, and Shepard would be lying if he didn’t take the opportunity to check Kaidan out. He almost cursed under his breath with how well Kaidan filled out his slacks. 

He glanced over the menu a few times and had decided on a patty melt with fries. Kaidan took his order and he read over some documents as he waited until Kaidan came back with his food.

“Don’t tell me that you’re working on your lunch break. You should use the time to relax," Kaidan suggested.

“Well, I need something to do. I don’t want to just sit and stare at the wall,” Shepard joked.

“Do you have games on there?” Kaidan asked.

“No,” Shepard confessed. “This is specifically for work.”

“Exactly. All work and no play. When was the last time you took time for yourself?” Shepard sighed a breath of defeat. He didn’t do much. Probably the last time was the other night with Kaidan’s photo, but he definitely couldn’t confess to that.

“I feel like I shouldn’t disclose how I spend my ‘me time’,” Shepard implied. 

Kaidan’s eyebrow arched and he got a small smile. “Very well,” he said knowingly. “There’s a festival in town on Christmas Night. Most people do family stuff on Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning, but Christmas afternoon and evening is usually pretty boring. Well, not in this town. We keep the festivities going, make the most out of the day. There’s music, food, hot chocolate, eggnog, games. If you’re here, you should go. But I assume you’ll take a few days in New York to be with family.”

“Actually,” Shepard said. “I was going to stay here, but stay in the house. I don’t have much family. Only my adoptive father, but he’d rather be alone on the holidays than fake the merriment.”

Kaidan didn’t judge, he just looked at Shepard the same as he had been. There was no ‘Oh, you’re adopted? How sad!’. There was just connection and listening between them. “I suppose if that’s better for him, then that’s all one can do. Holidays aren’t easy for everyone. You should try to make it out, though. It’s a fun time. It’d be good to see you there.”

It sounded like an invitation. It sounded like it could possibly be a date. It likely wasn’t, and Kaidan was just being polite. Kaidan would be hanging out with others, not him at the festival. But maybe Kaidan was asking him to hang out?

“I’ll consider it,” Shepard said to calm himself down for the moment. “Thank you for letting me know about it.”

“It’s no problem,” Kaidan said. “I’ll go ahead and let you eat.” Kaidan left him alone and Shepard was just left with his hopeless crush that wouldn’t go anywhere. He was in this town for a month only and there was no point in getting attached. But Shepard wasn’t a casual person either. If he did anything with Kaidan, he’d be head over heels for the man non-stop, even way after he’d be in New York.

He ate his food and brought his ticket up to the register where Edi greeted him warmly.

“How did you enjoy your meal today, Mr. Shepard?” Edi asked.

“It was delicious,” Shepard said. 

“And did you like the restaurant experience altogether?” she asked.

“I did. It’s very unique and cozy,” Shepard complimented.

“I am very glad to hear it. This restaurant is my pride and joy, and Jeff can’t get enough of my cooking at home,” she said cheerily. 

“How’d you meet?” Shepard asked.

“We grew up together here in Citadel,” she said. “While Citadel is very nice and lovely, kids can still be rude if they haven’t learned things such as empathy, consequence, or isolation. Jeffrey had his disability, and I was always a bit different myself. Socializing was hard for me. I often didn’t feel very human at times. It was just the two of us a lot of the time. We actually couldn’t tolerate one another at first, just as the kids couldn’t tolerate us, but we got closer and closer. He taught me everything I know about humor and jokes and he made me feel like I could be part of something for the first time.”

Shepard’s heart warmed at that story. The two definitely seemed like opposites, but he’d glad it worked out. “Thank you for sharing that with me.” 

“I hope that is sincere. I forget that oversharing with strangers is not always commonplace outside of Citadel,” Edi replied.

“It was sincere. The people in this town are important, and I’ll be working closely with Jeff, so it’s good to know a little more about each of you,” Shepard stated.

“Thank you, Mr. Shepard for your sincerity. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in Citadel. Do feel free to visit more,” Edi said.

“You as well, Edi. Please tell Kaidan I said goodbye and I hope to see more of him,” Shepard replied as he headed out the door.

  
  
  


Shepard made his stop to the library and spent a few hours there, but they closed at six and it was time to head back to the rental house. Garrus was already back, watching sports in the living room. 

“How was your day, honey?” Garrus asked with a humored infliction.

“It was fine. Got a lot of references and documents. I don’t want to lose out on this town,” Shepard replied.

“Same here,” Garrus said. “I hate businesses that take advantage of people. I always slept better knowing that we weren’t one of those. But now, if something happens, I’ll feel responsible. I’ll  _ be  _ responsible.”

“Vakarian,” Shepard with intrigue. “Is this you  _ caring  _ about others? And your  _ job _ ?”

“Oh screw off,” Garrus replied, taking a sip of his beer. “You know I work harder than you give me credit for.”

“You’re right,” Shepard said. “You do a lot for me, the company, and your own teams. But if Jeff says that you spent all day hitting on the workers, I am recanting my statement.”

“Not the  _ whole  _ day,” Garrus joked. “C’mon, you know I'm a professional. But I did enjoy speaking more with that Tali. She is very interesting and brilliant. She should potentially join the R&D team.”

“I can taste the lawsuit already,” Shepard bantered.

“I hate you,” Garrus replied.

Shepard went to bed that night thinking about Kaidan again and the Christmas festival he had mentioned. It’d be nice to have someone that made the holidays worth while. He could see why people enjoyed him, he was just not that fortunate recently. Perhaps he should ask Kaidan on a proper date. He’d like that, but he wasn’t sure if it’d be worth it, really. He didn’t want to get Kaidan’s hopes up. He didn’t want to get his own hopes up.


	4. Chapter Four

Shepard and Garrus had been in Citadel for a week now, and it was time for another board meeting. Shepard would be video conferencing in via his laptop. Garrus said he’d give Shepard space and work on the floor. 

He was waiting to be patched through to the New York board room when Miranda appeared on screen. “Hello Shepard, can you see and hear me alright?”

“Yes I can. Thank you, Miranda, it’s good to see you,” Shepard said.

“You as well. How is Vancouver?” she asked.

“Haven’t gotten into the city yet, but Citadel is very lovely. It’s quaint, friendly, peaceful. This is a good place to keep our business.”

“Well, from a financial standpoint, I’m inclined to agree. Depending on what you send me these next few days, we can potentially strengthen that position,” Miranda said. Her eyes glanced to the door. “Kasumi is entering the room now as well.”

As soon as Kasumi was seated, and she activated her seat in the conference call technology built into their table, she appeared on Shepard’s screen as well. If a high amount of people were in, the technology would put them all in a panorama that could be sifted through. The smart technology would also automatically focus a larger window on whoever was speaking or multiple main speakers. Since they were going to be smaller, everyone would have their own window for John.

“Good Morning, Shepard. I hope Vancouver is treating you well,” Kasumi greeted.

“It is, thank you very much.”

Jacob and Elun arrived shortly after and activated their cameras to begin the meeting.

“Good Morning, Everyone,” Elun stated. “Shepard, what is the status in Vancouver?”

“Upon review of the warehouse budget, data and cataloguing, the potential 2020 profits are projected to be at 86% of the 2018 profits. Miranda will be receiving a more detailed report and spreadsheets later this afternoon. We’ve made good progress, but these have been the easier cuts. We cannot cut anything that would violate labor or environmental laws,” Shepard said. 

“How many layoffs are projected?” Elun asked.

“None, sir,” Shepard said. “We’re doing our best to meet this goal without the loss of any employee.”

“You’re too soft, Shepard. Don’t jeopardize the quality of the product and have it inconsistent with the rest of our output by scraping teeth for cheaper materials. Get it to Miranda so she can determine which of your cuts are actually acceptable to make. We need to trim the fat, not the meat,” Elun said.

“Reducing workers  _ will  _ affect the product integrity. The products will have errors if the employees are overworked, which will cost us more to fix than having the staff to prevent the errors to begin with,” Shepard argued/

“That will be for Miranda and I to decide,” he said sternly.

Shepard was in a bad mood for the rest of the meeting and when the meeting was adjourned, he disconnected from the conference call and let out a loud groan to destress himself. It didn’t do much help. 

He compiled all of his data and documents into a neat and organized file and wrote Miranda a detailed brief outlining his findings and his plan of action. It was the end of the day by the time everything was finished. He was definitely going to need some drinks to ease his nerves.

He made his way to the Normandy bar again. It was about the exact same crowd as his last visit. The people must have precise schedules. He approached the bar where Kaidan was polishing a glass. He gave Shepard a warm smile as he sat down.

“Hello, Shepard,” Kaidan said. “It’s good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you too, Kaidan.” If there’s anything that could put Shepard in a better mood, it was definitely Kaidan’s smile. 

“Would you like the Honey Brown again or do you want to try something different?” he asked.

Shepard huffed in thought. “I’d actually like a glass of whiskey today.”

“Any kind in mind?”

“Surprise me with something Canadian,” Shepard said. 

“Ice, Stones, or Neat?” Kaidan asked as he grabbed a bottle from the shelf.

“Neat,” Shepard said, and watched as Kaidan poured him a glass and brought it over to him. “Thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Kaidan said. “You having a rough day?”

“A little,” Shepard said as he took a sip. This was actually very delicious whiskey, Shepard thought. “My boss is a complete dickhead. He’s cold, spiteful, greedy, unempathetic. I’ve been working non-stop to find things we can cut and reduce on, and he wants to veto my changes.” He turned to make sure the workers weren’t listening in on his conversation. He leaned down and spoke low to only Kaidan. “He really  _ wants _ me to lay people off as opposed to finding changes that don’t affect anyone. And I don’t want to do that.”

“I see,” Kaidan said. “Sounds exactly what I’d expect from a CEO.”

“Yeah, he’s certainly a stereotype. Possibly worse,” Shepard finished his sentence with another generous drink. “This is pretty smooth. Can I please have another?”

“Of course,” Kaidan said, grabbing the bottle and refilling his glass.

“Edi seems like she’d be a much better boss than mine,” Shepard said. 

Kaidan chuckled. “She is. She’s one of the friendliest, most genuine people I know. She’s not good at jokes, but she tries her best. Mr. Moreau is a cool guy too.”

“Have you been in this town your whole life?” Shepard asked.

“Yes, sir. I promise it’s not as bad as it sounds. I would like to travel, though. Just never had the excess money to justify any lavish trip, though,” Kaidan said.

Shepard felt guilty and awkward. He had a prestigious job that paid what many people could only dream of. He could travel very frequently if he wanted to. He didn’t because there was little point. There was nobody to create memories with, and if he was away from his work for too long it would just be too hectic when he’d return. But he did get to travel all around the US for work, though, and now Canada. He wouldn’t exactly count his time in the military as travelling since those were not touristy or enjoyable, but he did get to Mexico once and the Caribbean twice.

“I understand that. I had to join the military just to get out of a bad financial situation. I never thought I’d be able to afford anything until Anderson adopted me from foster care, and that was at age sixteen,” Shepard confessed.

Kaidan nodded as he listened. “A few people from here do that.. My dad was military too. I was tempted, but I wasn’t eligible for health reasons.”

“May I ask what it was?” John questioned.

Kaidan smiled. “Maybe another time. We’re focusing on cheering you up.”

John bit his lip subconsciously as he looked at Kaidan. The man was interesting, but an enigma. They only had a little amount of time together and he desperately wanted to know more. “Are you free any time soon? I’d love the opportunity to hang out with you.”

Kaidan grinned in a way that made John feel like he was vulnerable and see-through. “I’m free on Sundays, if you would like.”

“Sunday works perfect for me,” John said.

“Sounds good. I can pick you up at the house,” Kaidan said. “I can show you Vancouver if you’d like.”

“I’d like that,” John replied.

“Good, let me give you my number,” Kaidan stated as he grabbed a napkin and a pen from his pocket to jot his digits down and slide it to John. He hoped his face was keeping his natural tanned complexion because he was intensely blushing red on the inside.

John put the napkin in a safe pocket and finished his drink. He left some cash on the counter and bid Kaidan goodbye. While he tried his best to keep his expression stoic, he was positively giddy internally, just like a boy who had his first crush.

He arrived at the house and saw Garrus asleep on the couch, an empty beer bottle still in his hand. He went up to his room and looked at the clock. It wasn’t too late yet. His father would still be awake. 

He took out his phone and dialed Anderson’s number. The phone rang a few times before it answered.

“Hey, Shepard,” Anderson said.

“Hey, Dad,” Shepard replied. “How have you been?”

“Same old, same old. Retirement is boring. I’ve been going to these senior group meet ups organized by this local group, but these old geriatrics aren’t very exciting. I’m old, but not  _ that  _ old.”

Shepard chuckled. “Well I’m glad you’re staying busy. You got any Christmas plans?”

“I do actually this year. I’ve uh, been seeing this woman named Samara. I was going to be spending it with her,” David confessed.

“Wow,” Shepard said in shock. “I didn’t expect that from you.” His wife had passed away prior to him adopting Shepard. Enough time had definitely passed, but David was always saying his wife was the only woman for him. He never expressed any other desire to begin dating.

“Well, you know, I didn’t plan on it. But life has a funny way of working out like that. So no need to make a trip out to me this year. I hope you won’t be alone though. I worry about you,” David said. 

“I’m actually in a small town outside Vancouver for business. They have a Christmas Festival. There’s a cute guy in town that said I should go. And we’re hanging out on Sunday too I guess,” Shepard said.

“I’m glad to hear that, Shepard. You need someone. It didn’t need to be a romantic someone, just some friends or something. All you do is work.”

“Well, I wanted to change my life. You saved my life by adopting me, and I just didn’t want to take anything for granted,and I wanted to work hard and  _ be  _ someone,” Shepard explained.

“Shepard,” Anderson said sympathetically. “You have already done so much and you have already proven yourself. There’s more to life than work and capitalism. You need to  _ live _ . You need to  _ enjoy  _ yourself and your life. I wasted so many years thinking my life ended when Angelica died. Adopting you was one of the best things I have done, but I only had you for a little before you went off to the military, and then college, and then New York. But I am so proud of you, but I want you to do more than just grind your life away for this pretentious tech company.” Shepard huffed in amusement. He did feel like he put all of himself in his work because he didn’t know what else to do with his time. “Tell me about this boy, Shepard.”

“His name is Kaidan. I’m still learning about him, but he’s gorgeous and kind. He’s down to earth. It’s too soon to get attached, but I think I am, but I’ll be gone soon. I don’t want to get either of our hopes up.”

“Well, son,” David said. “If it feels right, and you’d like to pursue it, you  _ can _ . Long-distance is a thing. You’ve got the money to travel frequently.”

“Well, there’s also this other obstacle. My CEO wants me to fire multiple employees or potentially all of them and shut this branch down completely. I’m fighting him on it, but he’s given an ultimatum. If it closes, I’ll be the villain of this town. I wouldn’t be able to come back. He wouldn’t want to be with me.”

“That  _ is  _ an obstacle indeed,” David agreed. “Do what you can for the people of the town first. Save the branch. If it’s not meant to be, then stand strong. But don’t you ever let fear get in the way of your mission, soldier. If you want this boy, you’ll have to let him know, and you’ll have to work for it. Make some sacrifices. It’ll be worth it, trust me.”

“Thanks, dad,” Shepard said. “I appreciate the pep talk. I’ll go ahead and let you go.”

“Alright, son. You take care, and you do the best that you can do. That’ll be more than enough, and whatever happens with the branch or with Kaidan, you’ll know you did your best,” he explained.

“Thank you, I will. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” The call hung up and he took off his clothes and wrapped himself underneath the covers. Like a kid on Christmas, he was restless, excited for Sunday for his maybe-date with Kaidan.


	5. Chapter Five

Shepard and Kaidan had been texting each other every so often the past few days. Fridays and Saturdays were Kaidan’s busiest days at both the diner and the bar, but he replied to Shepard when he could. Shepard had to force himself not to respond immediately and play it cool, but he was anxious to respond. He didn’t know why Kaidan made him feel this way. This was certainly not like his usual self. Shepard usually had a colder, hardened exterior that only Liara was unphased by, but Kaidan phased right through those walls.

They day had come and Kaidan was picking Shepard up at ten in the morning so they could make the commute to Vancouver. Shepard was up early with excitement. He cleaned himself vigorously in the shower to ensure he smelled his best for Kaidan and even went as far as putting on cologne. He felt ridiculous since this was a daytime hang-out and not a nighttime date, but he wanted to make an effort in case Kaidan was interested in making this something more.

He was putting on his shoes when the doorbell rang. Shepard tried to quickly tie his laces when he heard the terrifying sound of the front door open.

“SHEPARD!” Garrus exclaimed. “YOUR BOYFRIEND IS HERE!”

Shepard’s face immediately flushed with heat from embarrassment and he made his way down the stairs where Kaidan was waiting. He looked effortlessly casual with a graphic tee and a cool navy pleather jacket. Shepard felt embarrassed for worrying so much about to wear, but glad he had talked himself down to one of his simpler button-down shirts.

“There’s the man of the hour,” Garrus teased.

“Don’t you have beer to drink and naps to take?” Shepard asked teasingly.

“I knew I was forgetting something today. I should get started on that immediately,” Garrus replied. “It was nice meeting you, Kaidan.”

“You too, Garrus.” Kaidan replied. The two of them left and headed down the steps towards Kaidan’s truck.

“Sorry about him. He loves to get under my skin,” Shepard apologized.

“Don’t worry, I understand the concept of a joke. I have learned well from Edi,” Kaidan replied.

Shepard chuckled. That was in and of itself a joke as well. “What terrible news for you.” Kaidan laughed at that as well. “So I, uh, didn’t really plan anything out specifically. Since you offered Vancouver, I assumed you’d be an expert.”

They got inside the truck, buckled up, and Kaidan started the engine. “I have a few surprises I’ll keep to myself. Hopefully you like them.”

“I’m so worried,” Shepard said.

“Don’t be,” Kaidan said as they began to drive off. They drove through the town and made it to the outskirts. The road joined a freeway which eventually lead them to the highway to the city.

“May I ask something that might be personal?” Shepard questioned.

“Shoot for it,” Kaidan replied.

“Why rent the house out? It’s too pretty to not live in.” Shepard stated.

“I’ll tell you if you don’t give me or my dad any pity,” Kaidan said.

“Deal,” Shepard replied, worried about what came next.

“I had a lot of terrible migraines as a kid. They were so bad they made my nose bleed, I’d have seizures, and I’d need to stay in bed a lot with no light and no noise. I was homeschooled just so I could be watched and be in a controlled environment. Dad’s insurance with the military covered a lot of the routine, but not the experimental surgery that got me to be better functioning today. The bar is actually ours, but we took out second mortgages on that and the house as well. When my mom passed, nearly all of her life insurance benefits went to paying off the bar. So, we rent out the house pretty consistently to finish paying it off.”

Shepard felt bad. His life was rough at the start, but being adopted by Anderson was at least the start of it getting better. He knew he was incredibly fortunate and it got better for him. For some people, the struggle was consistent and it was paycheck to paycheck.

“Thank you for sharing. I am glad you’re healthier now,” Shepard said.

“I am too,” Kaidan replied. 

“Where do the two of you stay now?” Shepard asked.

“We have a two bedroom apartment. He’s retired, so he has a fixed income. Since he’s military, it’s generous enough that we’re not struggling. We’re just trying to pay off as much as we can. But most people have financial struggles in this town or in the world. That’s just life. We’re fine. I assure you I’m not looking for a handout.”

“I know you’re not,” Shepard said.

“How did you get your role? You seem a little young for such a high position,” Kaidan questioned.

“It’s because Mr. Sivvman scares away his fellow board members. They retire early. I did my military service, did my schooling in Management, took a position as a Branch Manager, got promoted to regional coordinator, then I had Garrus’s job, and then this. Things kept opening up. Nobody wanted lifetime careers here. Also, I’m a bit older than I look,” Shepard said.

“How old are you?” Kaidan asked.

Shepard was nervous. He didn’t want his age to be a reason Kaidan didn’t like him anymore. “How old is too old for you?” he asked playfully.

Kaidan smiled. “You look younger than fifty,” Kaidan said. “If you’re older than I thought, then you’re in your forties.”

“Yeah, I’m forty-two,” Shepard said nervously.

“That’s fine,” Kaidan replied. “I’m thirty-three,” Kaidan replied.

“Christ, you’re so young,” Shepard said.

“I’m not  _ that  _ young Shepard.” Kaidan said. There was something in his tone that made it seem like Kaidan was implying something more, but Shepard wasn’t sure. He let the thought go away in his mind.

They continued with small talk and general get-to-know-each-other questions as they drove through Vancouver. Shepard looked at the buildings outside his window, and it was similar to New York. Tall buildings, traffic, a lot of people; but Shepard was positive New York had a more intense concentration of it.

They drove past a very large Aquarium and Shepard saw a cheeky smile on Kaidan. “Is this where we’re going?”

“It sure is. This is Canada’s first and largest public aquarium, and it’s one of the five largest in North America,” Kaidan replied. “I hope Aquariums are something you like.”

“I actually don’t know the last time I’ve been to one. This is sort of exciting,” Shepard said.

“I’m glad to hear it. I was worried you may not be interested.” They parked the car at the public parking and made their way to the aquarium. Shepard insisted on paying for the admission since Kaidan drove,  _ and  _ Shepard had been the one to ask him out.

Shepard loved walking through and seeing the large glass walls with nothing bust vast water on the other side. He looked in awe at all of the exotic fish and marine life swimming around. It was all so entrancing. Shepard felt at peace here. 

He looked over at Kaidan, who was tinted blue all over due to the light projecting the color of the water onto the entire room. The room was dimmed lower, probably because bright lights weren’t good for fish since the sunlight was minimal underwater. Shepard had to admit he liked how Kaidan looked with the lights down low.

They walked through a tunnel where both the sides and the roof were part of the tank. It was surprising to look up and see dozens of colorful fish swimming above him. He briefly thought about what would happen if the glass shattered. Where was the exit to the tank? Where would he swim? His irrational thoughts disappeared as soon as he looked at Kaidan, smiling at him, watching all of his expressions. 

“What are you thinking about, Shepard?” he asked softly. It sounded intimate, but maybe Kaidan just had his voice low for the other patrons. 

“I was thinking about what would happen if this cracked or collapsed,” Shepard said.

“And why were you thinking of that?” Kaidan prompted.

“It’s new, it’s scary. I heard that in psychology, the human brain asks itself three questions when assessing a new thing, animate or inanimate. Can it kill me, can I eat it, and can I mate with it? I’m assessing how it can kill us,” Shepard thought.

“Are you usually paranoid about things killing you?” Kaidan asked.

“Nah,” Shepard said. “Just didn’t want anything ruining this moment.”

“That’d be unfortunate,” Kaidan agreed, smiling wide at Shepard. As usual, Shepard didn’t know the line where friendliness ended and flirting potentially began. He had been greatly out of practice with this whole thing. But he could get used to it, if he allowed himself. Being here with Kaidan, it felt like the most natural thing in the world to him. Even surrounded by all these gifts from nature, Kaidan felt the most real.

They left the museum late afternoon, shortly before close and made their way to a real restaurant called Apollo’s. Kaidan had insisted the aquarium cafe was not worth it, and some empty stomachs would be worth the delay.

“What was your favorite animal?” Kaidan has asked before he bit into his steak sandwich with extra onions.

Shepard took a swig of his Canadian Lager before answering. “Probably the sharks. How about yourself?”

“The dolphins for sure,” Kaidan replied. “Why’d you like the sharks?”

“I’m not sure,” Shepard replied. “I think they’re misunderstood a bit. Hollywood keeps making movies about how dangerous sharks are, but they’re just trying to mind their own business.”

Kaidan nodded and took another bite of his sandwich. “Do you think you’re misunderstood Shepard?”

Shepard chuckled at Kaidan’s humorous attempt to psychoanalyze him, not that he minded if Kaidan was being serious. “I don’t believe so. I feel like I’m pretty straight-forward and direct with everything.”

“ _ Are  _ you direct with everything, Shepard?” Kaidan probed. Shepard wondered if Kaidan was trying to inquire about how Shepard felt about him, about today. 

“Maybe not as everything as I thought,” Shepard said nervously, unsure of where to go from here. He wanted to be more direct with Kaidan, but Kaidan wasn’t being direct with him either. He’d be more confident and make bolder moves if he had more to go on, but Kaidan was giving him crumbs.

They arrived back in Citadel later that evening and Kaidan walked Shepard to his door. “Thank you for taking me out on the town,” Shepard said. “I had fun.”

“I did too,” Kaidan said.

“Kaidan,” Shepard said softly before looking at him. “I hope you won’t hate me if I’m not able to convince my boss to keep the plant open. I’m trying really hard, I promise. I like you, and I like the people in this town a lot.”

“I believe you, Shepard,” Kaidan said. “You’re a good man. I know you’ve been stressed out trying your best. Edi told me about what Jeff tells her. Jeff’s been saying you’ve been really cool and we know it’s been coming from that CEO douche. The people in this town will survive if the worst case scenario happens.”

Shepard just nodded. “Thank you.”

“But I do want to know  _ why  _ you care so much about my opinion,” Kaidan prompted. 

Shepard’s heart began to race. Was Kaidan fishing for a confession of his feelings? What would happen if he confessed and Kaidan didn’t reciprocate? What if he said nothing and they drifted to being strangers?

Shepard looked up to get a calming breath when he noticed something he never noticed before. A small bush of mistletoe was above them, subtly decorating the house along with the christmas lights that had been strung up. Had they been on the house this whole time? They couldn’t have been. 

Shepard glanced at the street. Every household along the road had decorated for Christmas. It made sense; a small town like this would get excited and involved for Christmas. But Shepard had literally never seen a single piece of decoration until now. Why?

He turned back to Kaidan, who was looking at him expectantly. This was a sign. It’s because Citadel felt like home. Shepard took the initiative and cupped Kaidan’s face, bringing their faces together to have their lips meet.

As soon as Shepard realized Kaidan wasn’t running away from the kiss, he allowed himself to melt into it. Kaidan’s lips were smooth and perfect. Kaidan was kissing him back gently, yet eagerly, and it was everything the perfect first kiss was supposed to be.

Shepard slowly pulled away, looking deep into the eyes of the man he’d just experienced that magical moment with. The eyes were looking back at him with admiration, their owner was smiling confidently.

“Glad you caught on,” Kaidan teased. “I was really hoping you’d do that.”

“You weren’t very forthcoming with many signs of interest or flirting,” Shepard replied.

“Really?” Kaidan asked, bewildered. “Maybe I’m out of practice.” Shepard chuckled at that.

“So this  _ was _ a date, then?” Shepard asked.

“I was really hoping it was,” Kaidan replied. “And I’d really like to be your date again at the Christmas Festival.”

“I’d love to go with you,” Shepard replied.

“Good.” Kaidan stepped closer to kiss him deeply one last time. “See you later, Shepard.”

“Goodbye, Kaidan,” he replied. He stayed on the porch to watch Kaidan go to his truck and he waved Kaidan off and watch the truck head out in the distance. He went back inside and found that Garrus was not home for once. 

He grabbed a beer from the fridge and turned on the TV to relax, but he was too energized and ecstatic about kissing Kaidan. The handsome stranger he had been fantasizing over had actually liked him back. He wasn’t sure what this would mean long-term, but he’d be willing to try everything or anything to keep Kaidan.

He grabbed his tablet from the end table he had set it at earlier and reviewed some emails from Miranda. As he feared, Elun had rejected his proposals deeming some of his proposed cuts as “essential”, and therefore unchangeable. 

Shepard scoffed at the absurdity. Shepard couldn’t remove some of the excess at the warehouse, but Elun could remove the entire branch? Something didn’t sit right with Shepard. Jeff was carbon copied in these emails so Jeff knew Shepard was trying, but Shepard feared the worst. 

His happiness about his successful date with Kaidan was now spoiled with dread and anxiousness. He chugged more of his beer and rubbed his temples before emailing Miranda back with an inquiry. He looked back at the calendar and looked at the upcoming Christmas festival in three days. He hoped the town could have a positive and happy Christmas. He wasn’t sure if they’d be getting good news on New Year’s.


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter may or may not be ending with certain content. If it is something you want to skip, skip to the next chapter when you see the asterisks.

It was Christmas Day, and Shepard woke up with mixed feelings about it. Everyone was socialized to spend the holidays with their family, and he wasn’t. It was what he and David both wanted, but he somehow felt a little guilty about not doing it.

He would be meeting Kaidan that night for the festival, which he was looking forward to, but he had nothing to do this morning. Garrus had even flown back to see his family. 

He sent his dad a text that said “Merry Christmas, Dad. I hope you and Samara have a good first holiday together. Hopefully things go well and I’ll get to meet her soon.”

He went to the kitchen and at least made himself a festive mug of spiked eggnog to get festive. It didn’t remove the fact that he was maybe lonelier than he’d liked to admit. Sure, his holidays with his dad were awkward, but he wasn’t alone on a holiday. He was sure not everyone minded, and he thought he’d like it as well, but it turns out it wasn’t for him. 

Maybe he  _ did  _ want a husband, someone he could wake up to and celebrate with. Maybe even have some  _ kids _ running around eagerly opening presents they believed were from Santa. When did Shepard become this hopeless and romantic?

He decided he would drive downtown to where the festival would be. Surely, they’d be setting up and perhaps they would need volunteers. Shepard could feel productive and at least do  _ something  _ to help the town.

He got into his rental car and made his way downtown. The streets were completely empty. Every store was closed, save for a gas station which likely wasn’t getting many visitors. Maybe only people making a pitstop for gas on their way to or out of Vancouver. 

He arrived at event parking, and there were a few vehicles, which was a good sign. He made his way to the town square where booths and tents were being installed. It looked like a lot of work must have been done yesterday, but there was more. A man in a suit noticed Shepard and approached him.

“Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,” the man greeted. “You do not look familiar, so I’m assuming you’re Shepard?” 

Shepard chuckled at another stranger knowing him from the gossip of the town. “Yes that’s me, John Shepard,” he greeted, extending his hand for a handshake.

“I’m Mayor Udina,” he greeted. “What can I do for ya? The festival isn’t for a few hours.”

“I was wondering if you needed any help getting set up for tonight. I’d like to be a volunteer and help out,” Shepard said.

“I’m happy to have more volunteers,” Udina said. “Feel free to check in with Jack over there. She looks scary, but she’s our best volunteer. She’s been helping every year for nearly a decade now.”

Shepard turned to see Jack Zero, the girl from the warehouse he was slightly afraid of. He wouldn’t mind potentially getting to know her better, if she’d allow it.

He made his way over to the tent she was getting ready to start erecting. “Good Morning, Jack,” Shepard introduced.

She turned to the voice and saw who it came from. She eyed him skeptically. “It’s you. What do you want?”

“I’m here to volunteer,” Shepard clarified, not letting her cold introduction to phase him. “Udina recommended I should ask you. He said you’re his best volunteer and you’ve been doing this for about ten years now.”

“Remind me to kick his ass for divulging my personal information,” she replied. “Grab a pole and get a corner of the tarp attached snug above the pin that’s sticking out to prevent the rope and tarp from getting lower than that point..”

Shepard did as he was instructed and the two of them worked well, mostly in silence, getting the tents set up.

“Is there anything you can mention about the state of the branch?” Jack finally asked, breaking the silence. “Jeff says everything is fine, but he seems more stressed than usual.”

Shepard sighed. He didn’t want to cause panic, bad PR, or bring out bad news in general, but he figured he should have integrity and be honest. “The CEO is a dick and he rejected mine and Jeff’s budget proposal, even though we did what he asked for. He said certain things we suggested were “essential to operations” and wouldn’t authorize their removal. Yet, he considers human beings non-essential, and the entirety of the branch as non-essential. I don’t understand his logic, and I assume he only wants the worst,” Shepard said. “But I’m not giving up. I’m having the CFO look into everything as well. This branch is too important to lose.”

Jack just nodded and set a pole into the base to finalize the tent. “If he’s adamant about people being cut, if it saves the rest of the workers, I’ll volunteer to be one of the cuts. It’ll make it a little easier, I suppose.” Her tone was about the same as it normally was, but he could still sense a small pang of solemness.

“Neither Jeff nor I could ask you to do that, Jack,” Shepard contested.

“I’m gone if I do, gone if I don’t,” she said. “Might as well give everyone a fighting chance. I ain’t got a family depending on me. Some of them do. I’ll manage better than they can.”

Shepard just looked at her. This angry girl who was initially rude and cold seemed to care quite a lot; she was selfless and kind. “I’m doing what I can to prevent that. But, if you’re certain and serious, you should bring that to Jeff directly.”

Jack just nodded and grabbed some tools and gestured for him to follow her to the next tent spot. “So what’s your depressing ass story that made you be here on Christmas Day?”she asked, changing the subject. 

“My dad is spending Christmas with a new lady friend. The holidays are always forced and awkward anyways. But I was bored, and I wanted to do this town at least a little good. Just in case.”

Jack nodded understandingly. “Well, it’s appreciated.” She started screwing the loose cylinders that form the long poles when put together. “If I may ask, what’s the news with you and Alenko?”

Shepard smiled bashfully. “ _ IS _ there news?”

“Ashley is his best friend and I’m tight with their clique. We heard there was,” Jack said. “But it’s personal business and I’m a stranger, so I won’t pry. Just wanted to rile you up.” 

Shepard laughed a little as he was working to form a new pole as well. “I’m not offended. It was an amazing date. The best one I’ve ever had, actually. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I assume I need to talk to him about it tonight. I’m afraid I’ve gotten too attached for something so brief. I don’t think he’ll be the one hurt in this.”

Jack didn’t judge him, she just nodded. “I had a few flings like that back in my prime. I mean, they’re the ones that got attached. That feelings bullshit ain’t for me, but I have an effect on the ladies. Once you go Jack, you don’t go back.”

Shepard chuckled again at her outrageousness, but he admired her bold and raw confidence. She seemed so authentic and true to herself, Shepard truly admired it. He wondered who he was outside of his job. He really felt like he didn’t have much of a personality anymore. “You’re a cool person, Jack. This town’s lucky to have you.”

“Don’t be getting soft on me, suit,” she said. 

“I’ll try not to,” Shepard replied. 

Lunch time came around and Edi and Jeff showed up in a catering van with some food for the volunteers and shop owners who began to set up their booths.

“Hello, Just Shepard!” Edi greeted cheerfully. “It is such a pleasure to see you here. Are you volunteering?”

“Yes I am,” he replied. “Merry Christmas, Jeff.”

“Bah Hambug,” Jeff joked. 

“Oh do not be such a grinch,” Edi said. “Shepard, Jack, could you please help me set up a few tables and set the food out? I promise you two will get the first plates if you do!”

“If it gets me fed faster, I am in!” Jack said cheerfully.

“How come you’re never this enthusiastic at the factory?” Jeff accused.

“You don’t feed me,” Jack teased. “Also, Edi is prettier.” Edi giggled cheerfully at that.

“Don’t go trying to steal my wife now, Zero,” Jeff threatened.

“Oh, Jeffrey, sweetheart,” Edi said reassuringly. “I only have eyes for you as they say, even though my eyes can see everyone.” She chuckled at her own joke and Shepard saw Jeff smile at his wife, even though he rolled his eyes.

Jack and Shepard got Edi’s catering section set up and they grabbed themselves some glazed ham, green beans, mashed potatoes, a bread roll, and a soda.

More and more vendors were showing up to get their stands ready to advertise their stores and give out toys and samples now that they had spent the morning with their families.

“It’s all coming together,” Shepard said.

“It’s kind of nice,” Jack replied. “Cheesy, but nice.”

“I could use something cheesy,” Shepard said.

“I am truly sorry that I do not have any macaroni and cheese for you, Just Shepard,” Edi chimed in, missing out on the first half of the conversation. “But can I interest you in another bread roll?”

“No, thank you, Edi,” Shepard said. “I appreciate you for bringing this food though.”

“Oh, it is my pleasure. I enjoy contributing to the volunteer efforts that are so kind to put on this festival for us each year. It is my way of showing appreciation,” Edi explained.

“Well, I appreciate your appreciation,” Shepard stated. He took out his phone and saw that his father had texted him back while he was volunteering.

“If all goes smoothly, maybe you can meet her this summer. We don’t want to move too fast, but at our age, there’s little point in going slow. I hope I can meet this Kaidan as well.”

Shepard chuckled. “We shall see.”

After their lunch break, Shepard and Jack started doing some last-minute decorating on the tents for some final finishing touches to make everything feel a little more Christmasy.

Udina approached slowly clapping. “Thank you two so much for your efforts. I didn’t notice how close to the deadline we were getting this year. Thank you, Shepard, for showing up so spontaneously. I’m sure Jack and the rest of the town appreciate it.”

“I would've been fine,” Jack teased, but gave Shepard a secretive thankful smile. 

“It was my pleasure.” Shepard said. “I think I’ll head back to the house and shower. I’ve got a cute date tonight and I’ve been sweating under these layers.”

“Well, you take care. We’ll see you tonight so you can see all of yours and Jack’s hard work pay off,” Udina thanked. 

Shepard made his way to his rental car and headed back to the house to get showered and freshened up for the night. When he arrived at the house, he noticed he finally had a text message from Kaidan.

“Sorry for not texting all day. Just got wrapped up in the festivities. Also didn’t want to be clingy right before our date.”

Shepard smiled at Kaidan calling this an official date. “You’re fine. I was actually spending the morning helping to set up the festival. Jack and I put up a lot of the tents, booths, and decorations. We stayed pretty busy.”

He made his way to his bedroom, smiling at his phone. They still had a few hours before the festival would really take off. He was so anxious and excited to see Kaidan. 

“That’s amazing. Who knew you were such a sweetheart? ;) Can I pick you up at 5?”

“5 sounds great. Can’t wait.”

Shepard collapsed on the bed and took a deep breath to ease his nerves. He wanted things to go well with Kaidan. He wanted things to go well with the branch. He didn’t understand why he barely knew Kaidan, but he felt so strongly for him. 

His phone began to ring and he saw it was from Liara. He had hoped it was Kaidan, but he missed Liara a little. She was usually the most prominent figure in his life right now. “Hey Liara,” he answered.

“Merry Christmas, Shepard. I wanted to call and say thank you for the Christmas gift you sent me,” Liara said. Liara was very into archaeology and geology so he had sent her a lifelike replica of a recent fossil that was discovered that she had raved about as well as some lamps built into some pretty geodes.

“I’m glad you like them. I thought they might look a little ridiculous depending on your decor,” Shepard.

“Nonsense,” Liara said. “It’s all going in my living room. That’s where I keep all of my archaeology aesthetic. I ordered your present before I knew you’d be leaving town, so it’ll be at your condo when you’re back.”

“Thank you, Liara, you shouldn’t have,” Shepard said.

“Nonsense,” Liara replied. “I’m a festive person, and you’re a cool boss. I know you’re doing your best to try to save that branch. Most Fortune 500 executives wouldn’t bother. Whatever happens, you did a good thing for the people in that town, Shepard.”

“That means a lot to me, Liara. I’m worried for the worst.”

“Just try to enjoy the holiday, Shepard. Don’t bring yourself down. I’ll see you soon,” she said.

“You too. Goodbye, Liara,” Shepard said as he hung up the phone. He finally had time to get undressed and hop into shower to wash the sweat and dirt off him. After he was thoroughly clean, applied deodorant and got dressed, it was almost time for Kaidan to arrive.

He put on some cologne and made his way downstairs to grab a small snack to hold him over since he wasn’t sure when Kaidan would want to eat or how the food booths would be once it was all packed with the crowd.

There was finally the ring of a doorbell that alerted Shepard while riling up his nerves. He made his way to the door and opened the door to Kaidan, whose expression lit up with warmth and happiness at the sight of Shepard.

“Hey,” Sherpard said nervously.

“Hey, yourself,” Kaidan said much more confidently. He stepped closer and took the initiative to kiss Shepard. He was caught off guard, but quickly began to reciprocate.

“Well I think that’s a good start to this date,” Shepard said after they had broken apart, each smiling at the other.

“I suppose I’ve been excited to do that,” Kaidan stated.

“Me too,” Shepard agreed.

“Are you ready to go?” Kaidan asked.

“I’m ready to go anywhere with you,” Shepard flirted, which made Kaidan chuckle. They made their way to Kaidan’s truck. There was a light flurry coming down from the sky and the sun was beginning to set. 

“Did you get any nice gifts?” Shepard asked as they made their way downtown.

“I got a cold brew coffee press and some nice mugs. I really enjoy coffee. I got a new jacket, but it’s for spring. It’s still too cold to wear now,” Kaidan said. “You got gifts, right?”

Shepard made an uncomfortable non-commital sound. “I have a gift from my assistant waiting at my condo I guess, and likely something from my dad too.”

“I’m sorry, Shepard,” Kaidan said. “I’m sorry if this holiday wasn’t very good for you.”

“I’m alright. I’m just glad I get to spend the night with you,” Shepard said. Kaidan’s eyebrow arched questioningly before Sheaprd realized his wording. “I meant going out with you. I didn’t mean to imply anything else.”

“I know what you meant,” Kaidan teased. “You’re cute when you’re flustered.”

“I’m usually more confident and stoic. But you put me on edge, in a good way. I don’t know what that means,” Shepard confessed.

Kaidan smiled softly. “I’ve always been the awkward nerd. Something about you makes me want to be more confident, bold, and brave.”

“Well, that can only mean one thing,” Shepard said in a suggestive tone. “You’re an emotional vampire.”

Kaidan laughed. “Wow! I wasn’t expecting that. Is that so?”

“Mmhmm. It’s the only logical explanation. You’re sucking my life force out of me,” Shepard replied.

Kaidan chuckled at the entendre. “Ok, there’s no way that one was an accident.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Shepard said innocently.

“Sure,” Kaidan replied.

They arrived at the event parking and made their way to the town square next to main street where everything was set up. 

The sun had been set now, and the town was lit up with lamp posts and christmas lights strung up along buildings, tents, and booths. The white snow descending down, glistening from the reflecting light made Shepard gasp softly. It did not even look like the place Shepard helped decorate earlier today. The street truly seemed magical. 

The citizens were walking around, visiting each booth, mingling with their neighbors and friends on the street. Everyone seemed happy and delighted for the festivities. A quartet was playing holiday music from what Shepard could tell, he found it slightly harder to identify without the words.

He turned to Kaidan, who was eyeing him expectantly. “So, what do you think?”

Shepard turned to look at everything again to really take it all in before turning back to Kaidan. “This is the first time in a long time I have felt anything even resembling Christmas spirit. And I’m really thankful I have someone to share it with.”

Their hands were covered with gloves, but Shepard still reached down for Kaidan’s hand and entwined their fingers together. Shepard had never held anyone’s hand in public before. He’s not even sure when the last time he held someone’s hand was. 

Kaidan took it a step further and leaned in to kiss him, which Shepard was pleased to oblige. He knew it wasn’t always safe for two guys to show love openly in the states still, but he felt safe in the town. He felt like this was the right thing to do; he felt like he was a part of this community, even though he had only been here a month. He would do anything for this town.

They broke apart, still looking at each other with awe and wonder of the other. The world paused around them, and it was just the two of them for these few, still moments.

“Come on,” Kaidan said softly. “Let’s go walk around.” Shepard nodded and let Kaidan lead the way. Their first stop was to get a cup of hot cocoa and marshmallows to warm themselves up. Shepard took a cautious sip, afraid of burning himself, but it was at the perfect temperature; just hot enough to warm the soul, but did not have a risk of scalding. 

“Why am I getting the feeling you’ve never had a hot chocolate before?” Kaidan asked with a smirk.

“Because I haven't,” Shepard said. “I’m experiencing a lot of firsts with you it seems.”

“Oh really?” Kaidan asked. The interest and prompting for more information was clear in his voice and his arched eyebrow. “Like what?”

Shepard began to blush and he tried to hide his face with his cup of hot chocolate. “Oh you know,” he brushed off as he took another sip. “Canada in general.” Kaidan nodded with an expression that told Shepard he didn’t buy it, but he wouldn’t push further. Did he love Kaidan already? No, it was simply intense infatuation. They hadn't even done anything more than a kiss yet, and it had been less than a month. If Shepard started confessing feelings, Kaidan would definitely be scared off for sure. 

“Let’s check out some of the other booths,” Shepard suggested, avoiding the conversation. 

“If you insist,” Kaidan replied with a smile. They made their way over to the area that had carnival-type games. There were darts to pop balloons, ring toss, and also Christmas themed stuff where you could throw a ‘snowball’ at an elf on the shelf (which Shepard thought was sort of cruel to the elf who was supposed to be your child’s friend), a game where you reached into a chimney to pull out a plastic coal that would have a winning sticker if you were lucky and you could win a prize.

“What game would you like to play?” Shepard asked.

“Me? I don’t think so. But I’d like to see you try something,” Kaidan replied.

“Alright,” Shepard said. He made his way to the dart booth and gave the attendant some bills for a few darts and made his way to the line he had to stand behind for adults. The kids got to be right up at the booth, understandably so. “I don’t know if I’ve played darts sober before.”

Kaidan made an amused noise. “This must be another one of those firsts.”

“It must be,” Shepard teased. He focused his eyes and his arm and then threw the dart. He perfectly popped the balloon on his first try. A little kid nearby looked thoroughly impressed with Shepard. Kaidan seemed a little pleased, but his enthusiasm was not on the same calibre. Shepard would need to make a joke comment later on about how this moment truly cut Shepard to his core.

He threw his last two darts, both of which popped the balloons. The kid was ecstatic and in awe, as if he had just witnessed a superhero do something truly heroic.

“Pick your prize,” the attendant said. “You can choose any of the big ones.”

Shepard turned to the child and greeted him. “Hey, kid, is there anything you’d like? I don’t need it.”

The kid gasped with shock and disbelief upon hearing Shepard’s offer. “Really, mister?”Shepard nodded and confirmed. The kid ran over and looked at the prizes. “Can I get that big teddy bear?” The attendant looked at Shepard for confirmation and he nodded. They pulled the large, red teddy bear off the top shelf and handed it to the child.

“Thank you so much, sir! Merry Christmas!” he cheered.

“Merry Christmas to you too,” Shepard said as he watched the kid run off enthusiastically. Shepard turned back to Kaidan who was looking at him with a smile.

“That was very sweet of you,” Kaidan commented.

“Well, I didn’t need anything,” Shepard replied.

“Maybe I wanted the teddy bear,” Kaidan teased with a playful expression.

“Sorry about that,” he apologized. “Maybe tonight I can give you something better than a teddy bear.” The connotation was clear in his voice and Kaidan laughed.

“Better than a teddy bear? Someone’s awfully confident,” he teased back, causing Shepard to laugh in return at his absurdity. Shepard liked having someone he could laugh with again. Work was serious and professional, and his father was dry and reserved. This was a nice experience to share.

“Where to next?” Shepard asked. Kaidan was about to reply when a snowball hit his side, causing them to look around for a perpetrator. They caught Ashley walking up to them with a smile.

“Merry Christmas, boys,” she said cheerfully, pulling Kaidan in for a hug. “I hope I am not being embarrassing anyone by interrupting a very cute and romantic Winter Wonderland date on any fake naive pretense.”

They both chuckled at her, not minding her intrusion. “Kaidan just implied he’d rather be here with a stuffed teddy bear than me, so apparently not,” Shepard teased.

“Wow,” Kaidan replied.

“Stuffed teddy bear, is that like, a sub-class? A euphemism? I thought I was caught up on these terms,” Ashley said. 

“I feel as though my words are being taken out of context, and I was referring to something  _ else _ , technically, that I will not be disclosing to you,” Kaidan clarified.

“Eww, gross, TMI. I definitely do not want to hear all about it via text message no later than twelve hours from now,” Ashley teased.

“That’s only seven AM,” Shepard replied. “At least give him eighteen.” He looked at Kaidan and winked and Kaidan had been bested. He began to blush profusely and Ashley began laughing at him.

“I like this one,” she said. “I’ll leave you two alone. Thank you for letting me interrupt, and thanks for having a good sense of humor. Byeeeeeeeee.” She headed off and left the two of them alone with the aftermath of their innuendos and entendres.

“I feel like I should clarify that I am just playing to match her humor, and I am not one to pressure-”

“You’re fine,” Kaidan replied, interrupting. “I didn’t mind and wasn’t offended.”

“She’s a wild one,” Shepard commented, gently trying to steer the subject.

“She is. She was definitely the bad influence in our formative teen years,” Kaidan acknowledged. “She’s my family.”

“I’m glad you have someone like that,” Shepard said. 

They mingled a little longer before it started to wind down and they made their way back to the rental house. Shepard didn’t want their night to end. He only had a limited time with Kaidan and he wanted to make the most of it.

Kaidan parked the car in the driveway and turned to Shepard. “I hope you don’t mind, but every year I make a festive Christmas Custard Cake Pie. If you’re not ready to turn in for the night, I was wondering if I could come inside and make it for you.”

“Christmas Custard Cake Pie?” Shepard asked. “That sounds elaborate.”

“Just a little. It was my mom’s recipe. She always made it for us because I never liked pie. Too much fruit center and not enough delectable carbs. So this sort of pleases both cake and pie lovers because the inside of the pie is half full of a cake base and the top is the custard,” Kaidan explained. “I brought the stuff just in…...case.”

Despite the confident, playful banter, there was vulnerability in his voice. Shepard wasn’t sure if his intents were wholesome of if this was to get an excuse to get inside, which Shepard was  _ all  _ for, but that realization made him nervous, and he suddenly felt so scared and unprepared, but excited. “Well I  _ have  _ to see this,” Shepard replied.

Kaidan smiled and they got out of the truck. Kaidan grabbed the bags of ingredients he secretly had stashed in the back seat and they made their way inside and headed towards the kitchen. They unpacked all of the bags and Kaidan grabbed an apron from the pantry. Shepard thought Kaidan looked just as cute in this apron as he did in his one from the diner.

“You ready?” Kaidan asked.

“I think so,” Shepard said. 

“Okay,” Kaidan said. “Let’s begin.” 

*******

*******

Their evening was mostly Shepard following Kaidan’s orders while he supervised. Kaidan prepared a few ingredients, but Shepard did the adding and mixing, cracked a few eggs. At one point, when Shepard was stirring, Kaidan made a point to say ‘good job’ and place his hand on Shepard’s back, between his shoulder blades, and casually slide his hand down, stopping right before anywhere fun. He felt his pants constrict and he stirred with more vigor at the frustration.

Shepard felt playful and got some flour on his hands and placed it right on Kaidan’s left pec. Kaidan smirked and licked his lip and asked Shepard where he should place his handprint.

“Get creative,” Shepard suggested.

Kaidan got creative indeed and grabbed the hardest part of Shepard, causing him to let out a low grunt as Kaidan massaged him through the layers.

“I feel like the baking of this cake can wait until the morning,” Shepard said.

“Agreed,” Kaidan replied.

Shepard quickly turned off the pre-heating oven and immediately turned back to Kaidan to kiss him with intensity and vigor as Kaidan continued to palm Shepard. Shepard slid one of his hands down the back of Kaidan’s pants, straight to his ass. There was just enough room for his middle finger to slip in between Kaidan’s crack and rub little circles on his hole.

“Fuck, Shepard,” Kaidan muttered.

“You want to go upstairs?” Shepard asked.

“I do,” his date replied firmly.

“Put your arms around my neck,” Shepard ordered. Kaidan did as instructed and then Shepard removed his hand from under Kaidan’s jeans and just grabbed onto each half of Kaidan’s ass. Kaidan jumped into Shepard’s grip and wrapped his legs around the man. Shepard held him suspended and continued to kiss him before making his way to the stairs. 

He took his mouth off Kaidan’s to see where he was stepping, but Kaidan simply continued to distract him by putting his mouth on his neck.

“Fuck, Kaidan, wait five seconds,” Shepard requested.

“Mmmmnnnnn,” he heard Kaidan protest as the sucking continued on the side of his throat. Shepard focused on the steps and got them both up and into his room. He carefully set Kaidan on the bed while simultaneously mounting him. 

Kaidan ran his hands to unbutton all of the buttons in Shepard’s shirt while the man on top returned ever neck kiss he received on the way up the stairs. When the last button was unbuttoned, Shepard shimmied to work the rest off of him.

“Wait a minute,” Kaidan said with intrigue. “This is my room.”

Shepard chuckled. “Really?”

“Yeah, you didn’t take the master?” Kaidan asked.

“Garrus got dibs,” Shepard replied. “Have you ever had sex in this room?”

Kaidan shook his head no which made Shepard light up. “I’m going to fuck you so good on your childhood bed.”

“Well, this isn’t-” Shepard put his finger on Kaidan’s lips and shushed him, causing Kaidan to roll his eyes and chuckle.

“Let me imagine,” Shepard said before kissing Kaidan deeply, grinding his pelvis against Kaidan’s. He lifted Kaidan’s sweater above his head and he immediately took in the beautiful sight. Kaidan was more lean and muscular than Shepard thought. His uniforms and his loose fitting clothes definitely kept everything hidden away.

“You  _ definitely _ need more form fitting clothing,” Shepard said.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Kaidan said. Shepard kissed and sucked on Kaidan’s nipples as his hand that was not supporting his weight roamed Kaidan’s torso. 

“God Bless Canada,” Shepard said before kissing his way lower and lower, descending down Kaidan’s body until he was on his knees and at face level with Kaidan’s tenting pants. He looked eagerly at Kaidan while he unfastened his belt and pulled the zipper down, allowing Kaidan to rise his hips so Shepard could tug down his briefs and jeans in a single swoop.

Kaidan’s erect dick bounced free and Shepard was impressed with its attractiveness. He teased Kaidan by only putting the head in his mouth, and licking it whilst his mouth was closed on it and watched Kaidan quirm in front of him.

“More, Shepard,” Kaidan begged.

Shepard complied and sunk his face down Kaidan’s length, causing the man to throw his head back and moan. “Fuck, Shepard.”

Shepard continued to bob his head up and down on Kaidan. He loved the way he was making this man feel. Shepard undid his own pants as he sucked and once his own hard cock was out, he began to stroke himself.

“Are you touching yourself down there?” Kaidan asked, intrigued.

“Mmhmm,” Shepard moaned on Kaidan’s cock.

“It’s my turn,” Kaidan ordered. Shepard held up a finger urging Kaidan to wait a moment. He wanted to keep Kaidan in his mouth just a while longer. He removed his complete mouth, but ran his lips up and down the underneath of his shaft a few times, slurping up the leaking pre-cum emerging from Kaidan.

“Had to taste you a while longer,” Shepard replied flirtily.

“Never had a guy postpone me volunteering to pleasure him,” Kaidan teased, standing upright on his knees to Shepard so he could kiss him deeply, tasting himself on his lover’s lips. 

“Well, let me not delay you any longer,” Shepard said. He stood up the rest of the way, put his hand on the back of Kaidan’s head and guided him down. Kaidan let out a chuckle as he fell a little, but Shepard wasn’t forceful about it. On his hands and knees on the bed, Kaidan took Shepard into his mouth now, and Shepard was so surprised at the feeling that he accidentally fucked forward deeper, causing Kaidan to gag a little.

“I’m sorry, that was- _ Oh- _ that was  _ fuck _ , Kaidan,” Shepard panted, unable to form words. He leaned forward a little to better support himself, but that just gave him an aerial view of Kaidan’s perfect ass.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Shepard muttered. “You’re going to be the death of me.” Shepard could feel Kaidan fighting a smile as he worked on draining Shepard. Shepard leaned forward a bit more and began to rub one of his fingers around Kaidan’s hole. Kaidan moaned with Shepard’s cock in his mouth, the vibration causing him to curse again. He used his other hand to pull Kaidan’s ass open more.

“I can’t wait to fuck your hole, Kaidan,” Shepard said. “I want to be inside of you so bad.”

Kaidan took his mouth off Shepard, which allowed him to put his chest on the bed, putting his ass in the air more. “Do it, Shepard. Fuck me, please.”

Shepard walked around the bed to get behind Kaidan, and the view of his perfect ass was even better head on. His hole looked tight and had just the perfect amount of hair, manly but not distracting. He rubbed hand hand over the smoothness of Kaidan’s ass. He gave it a playful slap which made Kaidan yelp in surprise.

“This is  _ exactly _ the gift I wanted to receive this Christmas,” Shepard joked.

“I’m still waiting on mine,” Kaidan said, gently wagging his ass in front of Shepard.

“In a moment,” Shepard said. “I thought the whole point of you coming over tonight was so that I could eat your cake.”

Kaidan’s eyes lit up, not that Shepard could see them. “Are you about to-”

His question was answered when he felt Shepard’s stubbly, chiseled jawline slide in between his cheeks and a wet, slick muscle slide over his hole.

“Oh fuck,” Kaidan gasped. He felt his entire body shiver with pulsing energy originating from his sensitive rim as Shepard’s tongue continue to flick and twirl along the edges of the muscle.

“You taste amazing,” Shepard complimented as he dug his tongue deeper in Kaidan experimentally. “I don’t know how your cake in the fridge is going to top this.” He kneaded and squeezed the halves of Kaidan’s ass as he continued to taste Kaidan. Kaidan whimpered in pleasure as Shepard ate him out.

Shepard removed his mouth temporarily to rub his finger around it again. Slick now, his finger went inside partially. “I bet you’re getting so ready,” Shepard stated.

“Shepard, please,” Kaidan muttered, his voice weak and strained under the effects of his touch. “I need you inside of me now.”

“Babe, what’s the rush? I want to enjoy this,” Shepard said, ignoring his lover’s pleas as he pressed his tongue against Kaidan’s hole again.

“Oh my god,” Kaidan blubbered. He was leaking so much now, but Kaidan hadn’t even been touching himself through this part. Shepard continued to curl his tongue up inside of Kaidan on repeat, causing Kaidan to quiver with anticipation.

“Almost done,” Shepard said before bringing his face down to Kaidan’s balls and running his tongue slowly all the way from them to his hole a few times.

“I can’t hold off much longer,” Kaidan ordered. “Put that cock inside of me right now.”

Shepard chuckled. He was immensely turned on by Kaidan’s eagerness and assertiveness in the bedroom.

“Aye, aye captain,” Shepard said. 

“Condom and lube packets are in my wallet,” Kaidan admitted.

Shepard hopped out of bed to fish through Kaidan’s jeans to pull out his wallet. Right where the cash was, was a condom wrapper and two packets of lube. 

Shepard ripped the wrapper open with his teeth and slid the condom on. He used one packet to lubricate his cock and brought the other over to Kaidan so he could lube up his hole directly.

He slowly slid one finger in which caused Kaidan to gently moan in pleasure. He curled his finger inside Kaidan a bit to stretch him open and stimulate him before adding a second finger. Kaidan moaned louder as Shepard pushed up to his knuckles and pushed against Kaidan’s prostate.

“Fuck, Shepard,” Kaidan cried. “I’m ready for it, please.”

Shepard took out his fingers and he aligned his cock with Kaidan’s ass. He rubbed it up and down Kaidan’s crack a few times teasingly before pulling Kaidan’s hips back to meet his pelvis. His cock slid upwards instead of going inwards to keep the teasing going.

“Shepard, now!” Kaidan ordered. Honestly, Shepard couldn’t delay himself that much longer either. He pushed himself inside of Kaidan slowly. Kaidan let out a deep moan as Shepard inched his way deeper and deeper within him until his groin was completely pressed against Kaidan’s ass. He leaned forward to give Kaidan comforting kisses along the back of his neck.

“Give it a minute, give it a minute,” Shepard coaxed.

“You’re so big,” Kaidan complimented. He flexed his ass, gripping Shepard’s dick within him, which made Shepard choke a little.

“You’re so tight,” Shepard said, placing more kissing on his neck. Shepard slowly withdrew himself out of Kaidan about ninety percent of the way, earning more noises and whimpers of pleasure from Kaidan. Once Shepard got to about his tip, he slid back in, just as slowly.

“How you doing?” Shepard asked.

“Mm-fine,” Kaidan muffled. “You’re so deep inside me.”

Shepard chuckled and slowly laid himself down to press himself against Kaidan’s back, the angle bringing him slightly deeper. Kaidan was moaning harder and Shepard wrapped his arms around his lover.

“I got you, I got you,” he comforted as he slowly began to rock his hips. He wasn’t moving drastically within Kaidan, but the small thrusts were in an intense enough spot that Kaidan wailed with every thrust.

Shepard tried to feel Kaidan’s stomach under him as he made his shallow thrusts and sucked on Kaidan’s neck.

“Fuuuuck, Shepard,” Kaidan cried in pleasure. “You feel so good inside me.”

“Well I like how you feel too,” Shepard said in his ear before giving it a kiss and a gentle experimental bite. He continued to thrust himself into Kaidan, the man’s moans and grunts encouraging him to speed up a little more.

“How’s this for you?” Shepard asked.

Kaidan could only bear himself to nod enthusiastically and moan a quick “mmhmm” in the midst of the other noises he was making. He roamed his hands around Shepards’s back and played with his ass as Shepard fucked him and kissed his neck.

Their breathing was hot and heavy on each other’s skin and their fingers continued to trace and memorize each other by feeling.

“Let me ride you,” Kaidan choked out. Shepard nodded and slid himself out of Kaidan before gently rolling the both of them over. Shepard was on his back now, and Kaidan was straddling him. They brought their mouths together and kissed in this comfortable stance as they temporarily rested themselves.

After they had a chance to regain their breath, Shepard felt Kaidan reach down for his dick and point it towards his ass. With a quick rise of Kaidan’s hips, Shepard felt himself push past Kaidan’s muscles and slowly be engulfed by him. Shepard looked up at Kaidan’s eyes with focus and admiration, and held onto Kaidan’s ass as he descended.

Kaidan began to slowly bounce himself using the support for the headboard, causing Shepard to throw his head back and curse.

“Just relax,” Kaidan said soothingly as he rubbed Shepard’s chest with his free hand. Shepard let himself unwind as Kaidan rode him, occasionally gyrating his hips new sensations. He felt the pressure build up and his body started to become more sensitive.

“I’m going to cum,” Shepard warned. He sat himself upright with his hands holding him up for support and he thrust his hips up hard and quickly to push himself over the edge. Kaidan moaned loudly at Shepard hammering himself into him from underneath, hitting him inside at the perfect angle.

Shepard hollered loudly and swore as he came within the condom he was wearing. He stayed still until his sensitive cock cooled down and he moved himself out of Kaidan and carefully threw the rubber away.

“Your turn,” Shepard ordered. “Lay down.”

Kaidan got back onto his back and Shepard proceeded to suck him off once more. As Kaidan got closer, he pushed Shepard's mouth off of him and stroked himself until he sprayed all over his own chest. It was an outrageously hot sight for Shepard to witness He brought himself back to Kaidan’s mouth and they slowly kissed once more to wind themselves down.

“Let me get you a towel,”Shepard said, making a quick run to the bathroom to grab a rag. He came back to dry off Kaidan. He shucked the rag to the floor when he was done and curled up next to Kaidan. “That was fucking phenomenal.”

Kaidan chuckled at the unusually energetic complement, but smiled at Shepard. “I would have to agree. I’m going to be feeling that for a while.”

“You’ll stay the night, right?” Shepard asked, rubbing his hand on Kaidan’s torso.

“If you’d like me too,” he replied.

“I would,” Shepard said, leaning himself forward to kiss Kaidan more. “Besides, what kind of guy kicks a guy out of his own house?”

Kaidan chuckled. “Yeah, that’d be a bit rude.”

Shepard had never laughed with anyone during pillowtalk after sex with anyone. He’d rarely even had that. Most guys left or Shepard left immediately after. It’d be nice to have a warm body to hold onto throughout the night.

Shepard turned off the light and he cuddled up behind Kaidan, wrapping his arms around him securely, and placed a deep long kiss on the back of his neck. He fell asleep soundly to the warmth of Kaidan pressed against him, and the soothing vibrations of his breathing lulling him into the best night’s sleep he’s recently gotten.

  
  



	7. Chapter Seven

Shepard woke up the next morning, holding Kaidan in his arms. He placed a kiss on the back of his neck and felt Kaidan stir.

He loosened his hold on Kaidan so he could turn around and face Shepard. “G-morning,” he sleepily mumbled.

“Good Morning,” Shepard said. He was grinning stronger than he ever had in his entire life. He was confident that in his entire life, he had never been happier than this moment. He took his hand to brush Kaidan’s messy hair which was thoroughly ravaged out of shape last night from their activities.

“That was my favorite Christmas ever,” Shepard commented flirtatiously, leading Kaidan’s free hand to his lips to kiss it gently.

Kaidan smiled softly, still very tired from his recent slumber. “I’m trying to decide between a sassy response or a nice one.”

Shepard chuckled as he slid an arm under Kaidan’s to pull him closer. “Every answer, no answer, it doesn’t matter.” He kissed Kaiden long and soft with utmost tenderness before they pulled their lips apart and pressed their foreheads together instead.

“For the record, it was pretty great,” Kaidan said, causing Shepard to let out a delighted hum.

“I’m glad to hear it. How about we take a shower and finish making that cake?” Shepard asked.

“Ten more minutes,” Kaidan said. “I’m not in a rush to leave this.” He rubbed his hand on Shepard’s chest, and Shepard was positive he’d be able to feel his heart quicken under Kaidan’s touch.

“I’m not either,” Shepard replied.

They cuddled longer, enjoying their time holding the other before finally making the decision to unpause time, leave this perfect moment, and continue with their day with a shower. Kaidan borrowed some of Shepard’s clothes, and Shepard was incredibly happy to share. That, combined with the cooking together, had him feeling very domestic. He wanted it all with Kaidan, and it hurt him that he couldn’t.

He powered through his sad emotions, knowing this was ending within a week and made breakfast for Kaidan on the stove top while they waited for the cake to bake in the oven. 

“When is your flight back?” Kaidan asked nervously. Shepard got a sick feeling in his stomach that he immediately hated. He didn’t like Kaidan also thinking about how limited their time was together.

“It’s on the first. Around noon,” Shepard replied. “Garrus is coming back this afternoon. We have work tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday.”

“That’s fast,” Kaidan said solemnly. Shepard made his way over to Kaidan’s chair and knelt on the ground to be closer to eye level and wrapped an arm around him reassuringly.

“Hey,” Shepard said. “We have a few days left together, let’s not think about that. And if this is something you’d like to pursue, I can visit. We can make it work if it’s something you’re interested in doing.”

“Uhm,” Kaidan said, taking a sip from his coffee. “We should probably slow down a little. Let’s see how we’re feeling on New Year’s before we commit to anything.”

“Right,” Shepard said dejectedly.

“It’s just, we’ve only had two dates, and we did all this before we even made it to the third one, and we’ve only known each other three weeks-”

“I get it, Kaidan. It doesn’t need stating.” His tone was sharper and more hurt than he would have liked, but he didn’t want to hear every negative point against trying to be happy that Shepard had already told himself dozens of times coming from the man he desperately wanted to be providing some positives to the idea.

“Sorry,” Kaidan replied, also uncomfortable with the convo. “Let’s just try to enjoy breakfast.”

Shepard nodded and went back to the stove. He fixed them each up a plate of eggs and sausage and they ate mostly in silence.

“Thank you, Shepard,” Kaidan said as he was done. “I should head out now.”

“Right,” Shepard said softly as he got up to walk him out.

“You don’t need to,” Kaidan said, not completely, as he slipped his shoes on. “I can-”

“Please,” Shepard subtly begged, the vulnerability in his voice. “May I?” he gestured vaguely, asking for what could be their last kiss. Kaidan looked just as heartbroken as Shepard did, but nodded. Shepard leaned in, and Kaidan did too, but only a little. It was gentle, and they could each feel the hurt in the other. It was definitely Shepard’s least favorite kiss he had with Kaidan.

Shepard removed himself, trying to keep himself together for just a few more moments. “I hope I can see you again before I…….go,” he forced himself to say.

Kaidan just used his remaining strength to nod and headed out the door. He watched as a distorted Kaidan lingered for just a moment through the patterned, textured, and stained glass in the window part of the front door. Shepard put his hand on the door, trying to feel Kaidan through it, but Kaidan began to walk away just as he did. Shepard leaned his head forward and kept his forehead pressed against the cold glass for what felt like multiple minutes.

Shepard arrived at the warehouse. He hadn’t planned on working today, but he could no longer be in that house. Some workers took time off for an extended holiday, but many were back and working.

“Hey, Shepard,” Joker said when he past by Shepard’s ‘office’. “I wasn’t expecting you to be here.

“Well, I didn't really want to be anywhere else. Although. I don’t really know what else I can work on. Everything is awaiting review from the CFO,” he complained. 

“Well,” Joker stated. “Vega and Cortez might appreciate help, but only if you’re interested. Don’t have much other distractions for you. Otherwise, head home. You’ll depress my workers.”

“I’ll go see them then. Thank you,” he said solemnly.

“No problem,” Joker said as he wheeled himself away. Shepard closed his laptop and made his way to Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory as suggested. James gave him a friendly smile as he approached.

“What’s up, jefe?” James asked as Shepard approached.

“I was coming over to see if I could help you all out with unpacking or loading or anything. My reports are currently being reviewed and I assume I am not going to be good on the assembly belt. I’d like to keep busy.”

“Really?” James asked with an impressed smile. “Well, the easiest think will be over here, shipping.” James lead the way to the other end of their section where the product had already been packaged and sealed. “It’s really just loading these boxes onto our shipping truck. This document will show you the best ratios to stack everything and how. The products are labeled clearly.”

“Got it,” Shepard said.

James noticed Shepard’s melancholic demeanor. “You got New Year’s Plans?” James asked.

“No, I do not,” Shepard said.

“My husband and I are throwing a party, we’ll have some people over. Some people from the warehouse, some not. You should come,” James said.

“Didn’t realize you were also on my team,” Shepard joked. “When you said Cortez was your partner, I simply thought you meant like a coworker.”

“Yeah,” James replied. “Didn’t know you were either at first. Kaidan will be coming, if that’s a motivator.”

“I don’t know if Kaidan wants to see me right now,” Shepard said dejectedly. James gave a sympathetic nod.

“Well, that’s where he’ll be if you want to see him,” James said. “Let me know if you need anything.”

James walked away and left Shepard to help out two other guys who were working on loading up the trucks. They gave good pointers, and Shepard was just happy to stay busy and not think about things.

The day ended and Shepard went back to the house to be greeted by Garrus. “Merry Belated Christmas, boss,” Garrus stated. “I hope yours was eventful.”

“It was,” Shepard stated flatly. “I’m going to bed.”

“It’s not even six yet!” Garrus exclaimed.

Shepard didn’t care. He just wanted to be a day closer to being able to talk to Kaidan again, or be a day closer to being out of this town. He took some melatonin and laid down in the bed that still smelled like Kaidan and what they had done together, which didn’t help fall asleep any faster or cheer him up.

The next day, he texted Joker and said he wasn’t coming in, but would have access to his email if he needed something, and Garrus would be in the office as a resource. He wanted to drink, but he couldn’t risk going to Normandy in case Kaidan was working. He found one named Omega, but it wouldn’t be open until noon. Figures. 

Shepard decided he would simply have to go on a grocery store run and pick some up. He grabbed his coat and keys and made his way through the town to the store. The roads were mostly empty. He assumed a lot of people were at work or were still out of town for the holiday. 

He got to the store and headed straight for the liquor section. He grabbed a bottle of vodka and some lemon-lime soda as a mixer and then grabbed a few comfort snacks. 

He made his way to the register where he saw the familiar woman from his first day in town. She recognized him as well and energetically waved ‘hi’. It was too late to go to anyone else, so he would grin and bear her friendly conversation.

“It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Shepard,” she greeted.

“Hi Kelly,” he said flatly.

“You remembered!” she said happily. 

Shepard just nodded and let her scan the items. Hopefully these didn’t scream of depression, and hopefully she wouldn’t ask if they were for a party. But she didn’t say anything at all, much to Shepard’s surprise. 

“Your total is $35.20 today,” Kelly stated. Shepard swiped his credit card and hit the buttons on the kiosk until Kelly handed him his receipt.

“Thank you, Kelly,” Shepard said.

“I hope the rest of your week is better. And it can be, if you allow it,” Kelly said softly and nervously. She was more perceptive than he thought. “It was just a horoscope I read today,” she replied, trying to cover up her boldness. “I’m not sure if it applies, but if it does, then, well I hope it does.”

“You don’t know my sign,” Shepard teased. “Thank you, Kelly.”

She nodded and left him to walk alone back to his car. He made his way back to the rental put his groceries on the counter, and immediately made himself a vodka soda.

He forced himself to go upstairs and take the bedding off of his bed and put it in the washing machine. He didn’t want to cause any damage to the machine, house, or bedding, so he was sure to put the comforter in by itself and follow the directions on the label precisely. He needed to wash Kaidan away.

His drink was done, and he poured another. Time was not progressing as fast as he needed it to, and it was excruciating. He tried to distract himself with TV, games on his tablet, anything, but it barely worked. The buzzer on the washer rung, reminding him of the comforter, who was in it, and why it needed to be cleaned.

He poured himself a third drink, going a little easier on the lemon-lime soda to get drunk quicker before putting the comforter in the dryer and the rest of the sheets in the wash. He made his way back to the couch and took out his phone. There was still no text from Kaidan, and Shepard sighed. He wanted to  _ not  _ think about him, but all he wanted to do was talk to him. He was fighting the urge to Facebook stalk him and snoop through his photos.

At some point he fell asleep on the couch, and he woke up to the sound of Garrus coming home. He sat himself up and groaned from the exhaustion and leftover sleepiness from an unfulfilling nap.

“Having yourself a pity party?” Garrus asked as he entered the living room and saw the scene. “I’ll bite. What the fuck happened over Christmas?”

“Nothing,” both of them said in unison, but Garrus mocking him in a sarcastic tone. 

“Shepard,” Garrus stated. “I know you’re not the type of person for close friendships or  _ any  _ friendships, but I’d like to think we’re friends. You need to talk to someone, and that someone can be me if you’d like.”

Garrus made his way over the living chair that was angled towards the couch Shepard was on and looked at Shepard expectantly.

“I got together with Kaidan. The night was perfect and he was enjoying it, but the next morning we were faced with the reality it’d be over soon. I said we could potentially try to make a long-distance thing work, but he said we barely knew each other and that was a lot to commit to and I haven’t heard from him since,” Shepard explained.

Garrus just nodded empathetically. “I’m sorry, Shepard. I know that’s not the news you wanted to hear.”

“Do I get a lecture about how it’s my fault for getting attached?” Shepard drunkilly asked. 

“Of course not. We can’t help who we fall in love or like with. Can’t force or prevent attraction. I believe people come in our life for a reason, whether it be for a year or a season. My mother used to say that to me. If things with Kaidan do not work out, then you need to focus on the positives. You learned you’re able to love and are potentially open to it. You learned there is more to life than our job. You got to live a little. And while I understand getting to keep Kaidan is definitely better than all of those combined, I believe Kaidan helped you grow. I’ve seen you happy, Shepard. I’ve never seen you truly happy before. And worst case scenario, you can experience that happiness again.”

Shepard nodded understandingly. “But this is not meant to be fatalistic, we’re not throwing in the towel yet. Give him another day or two to mull things over, but you contact him on New Year’s Eve before it’s too late. You’re going to  _ try _ to win him back. If it doesn’t work out, then you can at least say you made an effort. I’m not taking you back to New York with regrets that you could have done more. But let’s respect his space for a bit,” Garrus added.

“I appreciate you, Garrus,” Shepard said. “You’re a good friend.”

“Well, don’t go spreading the news around. I have a reputation to maintain,” Garrus replied. “But when we’re back we should look into you joining a book club or a GSA if they have those for grown men. I don’t know. You do need a social life. I don;t know how you woo’d Kaidan with your awkwardness.”

Shepard laughed at Garrus’s roastful description of his personality. “He probably found it charming.”

“Well, the man is clearly delusional.  _ Canadians _ .”

The night passed with Garrus and Shepard talking and playfully bantering the whole night. They hadn't really connected like this their entire trip. It was nice, Shepard really  _ had  _ isolated himself, and deprived himself of so much. Maybe Garrus was right. He’d learned a lot about how to improve himself on this trip. If he did go home without Kaidan, it would hurt, but it’d be because he was now only aware of his own loneliness. He didn’t want to return to it, but he knew something would need to be done about it.

He took the sheets out of the dryer and carried everything upstairs to make his bed. Thoughts of him and Kaidan entwined together echoed in his mind again. It was only one night together, but the bed seems so big and empty without the other half of it filled with his body. He took some more melatonin and crawled into the bed and shut his eyes, trying to keep his thoughts off of Kaidan, and off of work.

Saturday and Sunday dragged on. It was hard to avoid the bar Kaidan worked at as well as Edi’s restaurant. Shepard had walked around downtown and looked at the local businesses. It was going to be a treat himself weekend. 

There was an antiques shop called “Citadel Keepsakes”. Shepard thought it would be nice to have a souvenir, even though he was afraid that if things didn’t work out with Kaidan or the factory, it might hurt to look at it, but he felt it was important.

He wasn’t a magnet or keychain type, so he looked at some of the homemade wood sculptures. There were multiple animals, figures of people that looked like thicker and rounded stick figures with little ball heads in various poses, and abstract wood art. He finally came across a wood sculpture with a clock in it. The wood sculpture itself was shaped like a mineral or crystal with a hollow center that the clock itself was placed into. The base itself had “Citadel” etched into it in beautiful cursive. Shepard figured it was a good way to represent the little time he has left on this Earth and not to waste it, and to represent the short but meaningful time he had spent in Citadel.

He also headed to the barbershop and got a shave. He had never been to a professional barber and had only ever shaved himself. He was tense about having someone hold a blade to his neck, but he allowed himself to relax. He splurged and got a scalp massage with rejuvenating lotion as well as a neck massage. It was worth every penny and he left a generous one-hundred-percent tip to help spread the wealth.

Once he was home, he opened the fridge for lunch and saw the uncooked pie he and Kaidan and made together. He sighed and thought it might be best to throw it out, but he couldn’t bear the thought. If he needed to get over Kaidan, avoidance was not the answer.

He heated up the oven and he placed the pie inside. He made himself a sandwich while it baked and then finally took it out when his timer dinged. He was lucky he remembered the instructions Kaidan had told him the other day. 

He waited for it to cool before grabbing a slice and heading to the dining table. He set the plate down and sat down, staring at it, preparing himself. He felt foolish, experiencing anxiety over a dessert, but it just representative so much. The both of them, opposites, but coming together, coming together, combining into one. 

“It’s justa fucking cake, Shepard,” he told himself before putting a fork in and taking a bite. He immediately moaned at the taste. It was sweet, the vanilla mixed with the eggnog and nutmeg perfectly. There was enough cake to make Shepard feel he wasn’t just eating pudding as crust, like a regular pie would. Now he would be having thoughts of Kaidan making him dinner every day and being domestic, which he didn’t need. But he really had to hand it to Kaidan. This turned out wonderfully.

It was only two days before New Year’s Eve. They last spoke Thursday morning, and it was Sunday afternoon. Shepard would allow himself to send  _ one  _ text.

“Finally had the pie. It was delicious. Thank you.”

He would leave it like that. No flirtation, no added innuendo, no ‘I miss you’ or ‘Can I See you’. Not yet, anyways.

Shepard put the rest in the fridge and was surprised to feel his phone vibrate already. He took it out and saw a text from Kaidan back already.

“I’m really glad you liked it. I liked making it with you.”

Right when he was trying to maybe get over Kaidan, he sends this curveball. Did the man enjoy torturing him? What did that mean? Did he  _ actually _ mean the making of the pie or was he covertly referring to making love after the making of that pie? Shepard just wanted to bury his head into his pillow. What does he do now? Does he respond? Does he wait? He had never been so anxious in his life.

He decided to text back. “And by that you mean?” He took a deep breath. This would gauge Kaidan’s interest. He could get closure, possibly, one day or another.

He felt the vibrations and looked down. “The entire night. All of it. Our dates leading up to it. The festival. The cooking together. The spending the night together, both the sleeping and not sleeping.”

Shepard felt a tear coming on and he did his best to fight it. Suddenly, his phone began to ring. Kaidan was actually calling him. He did his best to breathe peacefully and ease his nerves before answering. 

“Hey,” Shepard said calmly.

“Hi,” Kaidan replied. “I’m sorry for my outburst that morning. I was scared.”

“Why were you scared?” Shepard asked.

“Because I like you, Shepard, a lot. Too much for such a short amount of time,” KAidan replied.

“I feel the same way, Kaidan,” Shepard replied.

“I know you do, and that was scary too. It’s scary to commit to something I want but it just seems too whimsical and unrealistic to work out and I am afraid of getting hurt because where’s both in lust and not thinking rationally,” Kaidan replied.

“That’s everything I’ve been telling myself for the past few weeks,” Shepard confessed. “But I don’t want to not try.”

“It’d be so much safer to not try,” Kaidan said.

“Then we’ll both be miserably asking ourselves our whole life ‘What If’? I’d rather risk it all. If we fail, at least we ran the race. We allowed ourselves the chance to be happy. I don’t want to choose to be miserable on the off chance the misery from loneliness is marginally better than the misery of heartbreak.” 

Kaidan was just silent on the other line for a few moments before he said, “I need to see you.”

Shepard shed a tear as he smiled widely. “I need to see you too.”

“I’ll come over if that’s ok. In about two hours,” he offered.

“That sounds great,” Shepard replied.

“Ok.” Kaidan said softly. “See you soon.”

Kaidan disconnected the call and Shepard sighed a breath of relief. His anxiety and pain was almost completely relieved. Kaidan  _ wanted  _ him, he was just as scared as Shepard was. That was ok, this was at least a start.

He went upstairs and took a hot bath with some bath salts he purchased downtown as a part of his pamper day and just let his muscles ease up and relax from the tension he had been holding onto for the past four days. His body needed the rest. He got out and got dried and dressed again, putting on some cologne for Kaidan. After that, he was just chilling in the living room reading news on his tablet until the bell rang.

He opened the door to see Kaidan, exactly who he had been expecting, but seeing him in person felt like he had been hit by a truck, like he almost didn’t believe he’d get to see him again. Shepard stepped forward and just wrapped his arms around Kaidan and hugged him. He wasn’t sure if Kaidan was in the mood for a hug, he should’ve asked, but he just wanted to hold Kaidan. Kaidan reciprocated, so the feeling must have been mutual. Shepard finally let go and let Kaidan come inside.

“Thank you for coming,” Shepard said softly.

“Thank you for texting me first,” Kaidan replied. “I wasn’t sure….if you’d want to hear from me again.”

“All I wanted since you walked out the door was for you to text me,” Shepard confessed.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I didn’t mean to hurt you that way.”

Shepard just nodded. He wasn’t sure what made Kaidan believe that wouldn’t hurt. He practically poured his heart and soul to him and he responded by almost dumping him, but he was here now, and there was little point reopening that wound.

“Would you like some coffee?” Shepard asked.

“Yes, thank you,” Kaidan said nervously. Shepard made his way to the kitchen and began to brew a pot for the both of them. “Can we sit on the couch together?”

“Yeah, get comfortable,” Shepard replied. It was clear there was nervous tension between the two of them still. They were in uncharted waters, dealing with a tough situation. Kaidan got on the couch and Shepard headed over with two warm mugs of coffee.He handed one to Kaidan and set his on the end table before sitting down on the end. As soon as he was seated, Kaidan curled up next to him immediately.

“Is this ok?” Kaidan asked.

Shepard responded in turn by putting his right arm around him for support. “Yeah,” he said softly.

“Good. I like this, Shepard. You’re comforting. You make me feel secure,” Kaidan confessed.

“You make me feel found,” Shepard replied. “You make me feel like I have a soul, and warmth, and a purpose.”

Kaidan took a deep sigh. “I feel like it’s not healthy for either of us to get attached this intensely.”

Shepard chuckled at the confession. “Most therapists might agree. But Garrus said we can’t help who we like and who we’re attracted to. As gay guys, we should know that better than most.”

“I’m still kind of apprehensive,” Kaidan confessed. “Being here, you holding me, me smelling you, it isn’t making this decision easier.”

“Let me convince you that  _ this _ is the right choice,” Shepard said softly. He took his free hand and put it under Kaidan’s chin, slowly guiding his gaze up towards his before leaning forward and delicately kissing him. “Doesn’t that feel right?” Shepard asked.

“It feels like a lot of things,” Kaidan replied. “There’s a lot of feelings I can’t put into words. I’m not a risk taker. I’m a thirty three year old bartender slash waiter who has never left his hometown or gone to any college.”

“I don’t care about that,” Shepard said. “You did what you could to take care of your family. You have friends who love you. I didn’t get to have that. I am quote-unquote successful, and I was miserable until I got a taste of this town. This between us, it’s new for both of us. We can experiment with it together.”

“Let’s get through New Year’s,” Kaidan said. “And let’s see what happens with this factory.”

“Yeah,” Shepard said. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable coming back here if this place gets shut down because of me. I don’t think your friends would like me after that or want to see me around.”

“That’d be awkward, but it wouldn’t be your fault at all. We’ll just take things a day at a time,” Kaidan said.

“Okay,” Shepard said. “We can try that.” Shepard kissed Kaidan’s forehead and they held one another for the longest time. “Would you want to spend the night with me?”

“That depends,” Kaidan replied. “What entails in spending the night?”

“Whatever you want. Nothing you don’t,” Shepard replied. “I just want to hold you again.”

“That’s fine,” Kaidan replied. “We can sleep together.  _ Only  _ sleep together.”

“Okay,” Shepard replied. 

They made their way upstairs and headed to Shepard’s room. Shepard began to take his shirt off, but paused, looking towards Kaidan for reassurance that this was ok. Kaidan nodded and Shepard resumed. He threw his shirt on the ground and removed his pants too, but kept his briefs on, and he climbed into bed. Kaidan removed his shirt and pants as well and followed Shepard in. 

Shepard held onto Kaidan in comfortable silence, just glad he could hold onto Kaidan one more time and have reassurance that this thing between them wasn’t over yet.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut may or may not be here too. Look for the asterisks at the end if you need to skip.

Things were easier on Monday. They had a non-uncomfortable breakfast together and they kissed before they each left for work. 

The uncomfortable part was when Jeff and Shepard combined a new budget, one that featured a few terminations of some of their employees. It was completed by the end of the day Monday and they sent it to Miranda for review. The air in Jeff’s office was thick and tense. 

“I’m sorry, Jeff,” Shepard apologized sincerely. “Sivvmann is a dick. Miranda says he’s shot down everything she’s approved.”

“You did what you could, I know it. A few losses are better than half the town,” he replied. “It’s not right before Christmas at least.”

“Jack volunteered to me, yet you didn’t want her on the list,” Shepard stated. “Why?”

“If I lose Jack, this place goes to hell. Or the town does. I keep her in this cage for their protection,” Joker said. Shepard chuckled slightly. “She’s my best worker and I was going to promote her soon when I had an opportunity. Everyone else is hireable. Jack, not so much. We’re her family here, she won’t like it anywhere else or adjust well I think, even though she’d jump on that blade for anyone here. Nobody else would appreciate her the way we do.”

Shepard just nodded. “She’s a complex character. I’m glad I got the opportunity to meet her.”

Garrus and Shepard didn’t head into work on Tuesday since nothing more could be done. Shepard had personally paid for Edi to cater food for all of the workers as a thank you for their service. For seven of them, it was a potential apology in advance, not that they knew it yet. Jeff texted Shepard and told them they all loved it. 

Kaidan texted Shepard to see if he was still interested in coming to James’s party. Shepard said he was looking forward to it.

He stopped at a busy liquor store to contribute a bottle to the party. He had James’s cell phone number and James requested that Shepard get more gin as they were anticipating a lot of vodka and tequila.

He got back to the house and relaxed until it got closer to the evening so he could shower and freshen up. After he got dressed in his evening attire, the bell rang and Shepard went to greet Kaidan, who was picking him up. Shepard was told he could extend an invite to Garrus, but Garrus said he would go out to a bar instead, which was understandable.

He opened the door and Kaidan greeted him with a kiss. “You look nice,” Kaidan complimented.

“Thank you, you do too,” Shepard said.

“Are you ready?” Kaidan asked.

“I suppose so. Is this a rowdy crowd when they drink?” Shepard asked.

“Vega, Ashley, and Jack are,” Kaidan replied. “Tali doesn’t drink. Steve and I don’t drink too much. Besides, I’ve got to get us back home safe.”

“I promise not to get too bad either,” Shepard stated.

“Sounds good,” Kaidan replied. They made their way to James and Steve’s house on the other side of town where they were welcomed with open arms.

“It’s good to see you, Shepard,” Vega said. “I’m glad you came.”

“He’s accounted for,” Cortez teased. “And so are you.”

Shepard laughed and Kaidan just looked amused by Vega getting flustered. “Tu eres estupido, it would be nice to be friends with another gay couple in this town.”

“Did either of you date Kaidan before me?” Shepard asked suspiciously.

“Are you jealous?” Kaidan teasingly asked.

“Naw, jefe,” Vega replied. “I met Cortez in the army. We settled here afterwards. But Kaidan would have totally been into high school me.”

“Until you opened your mouth,” Cortex replied.

“I thought you liked that part,  _ amor _ ,” James replied flirtily.

“Yeah, yeah, we get it. You’re all gay, happy, and horny,” Jack’s voice announced as she approached from the kitchen with a drink. “Start drinking and start shutting up.”

“C’mon, let’s go,” Kaidan said. They headed into the kitchen and set their alcohol on the table for everyone to enjoy.

“What do you want me to make you?” Shepard offered.

“Oh, so you’re the bartender now?” Kaidan asked.

“I’m just the type of guy that likes to help out my boy….guy,” Shepard stuttered, doing his best to recover from his Freudian slip.

“You boy guy?” Kaidan asked with an amused chuckle.

“Shut up,” Shepard said. “I know we’re not supposed to be rushing this. We’re two guys, who kind of like each other, being casual.”

Kaidan just looked at him, holding back a mocking smile. “Sure thing, boy guy,” Kaidan replied. “I want a rum and coke.”

Shepard made Kaidan his drink and made a vodka soda for himself before they rejoined the party. Tali and Jack were playing spades and Kaidan and Shepard joined in for a teams match. It was evenly matched until the last half where the girls pulled ahead significantly ro make Kaidan and Shepard lose.

“You played admirably,” Tali complemented.

“No they didn’t, we dominated them. Losers!” Jack lightheartedly teased.

“There’s still some bonding and getting to know each other we still gotta do,” Shepard said. “If we get the opportunity.”

“Are you and Garrus flying back to New York tomorrow?” Tali asked, not giving Kaidan a chance to respond on Shepard’s implication. From the playful smirk on his face, Shepard would assume Kaidan wasn’t opposed. 

“Yes, we are,” Shepard said. “Are you going to miss him?”

“What?” Tali asked, caught off guard. “I don’t know how to reply to that. I barely know the man. He is a professional. Technically our superior. We know each other in a professional manner-”

“Are you turning red under that scarf?” Jack instigated.

“You stupid boshtet,” Tali stated. “I am not. It was a strange and uncomfortable question.”

“My apologies, then,” Shepard replied knowingly.

“He has a nice jawline,” Jack said.

“I am going to grab a drink,” Tali said, excusing herself from the table.

“Wow,” Jack replied. “Was your pining for Kaidan that obvious?”

“Yes it was,” they both said in unison. Shepard turned sharply at Kaidan in surprise. “I thought it was cute,” Kaidan replied. “I obviously reciprocated.”

“It wasn’t obvious to me. You had me pathetically pining over you like a lovesick high schooler. I didn’t think I’d stand a chance,” Shepard replied.

“Well, you did,” he replied confidently.

“So when did you start to like me?” John asked.

“When you came into the bar,” Kaidan confessed. “You were an attractive new stranger. You were kind. I liked the way you looked at me.”

“How did I look at you?” Shepard asked, surprised.

“Like you were thirsty as hell,” Kaidan roasted, causing Shepard to bluff and Jack to laugh her ass off before she took a swig. “But also, I could tell it wasn’t just going to be a physical thing probably as we talked more. Or maybe I was just hoping it wouldn’t be. I wanted to know you more, so that’s why I asked you to come to the Christmas Festival. And then we had our other date in the city. And I realized I was pretty screwed.”

Shepard was about to respond when Jack made a retching noise and stood up. “This is too sappy now. Can’t y’all give a girl a break?” She headed away causing Shepard and Kaidan to chuckle.

“This has been a great month with you, Kaidan,” Shepard replied. “I’m glad I got to meet you.”

“Same here, Shepard,” Kaidan replied.

“You know, you don’t have to keep calling me ‘Shepard’, right? You can call me ‘John’,” he said softly.

“John,” Kaidan said. “That’s different.”

“Yeah, it is,” he replied. 

The rest of the night went on with drinking games and general talking, watching the new years show on the TV. Shepard was felling a moderately strong buzz as the night went on and Kaidan held himself back respectfully.

Finally, it was 11:59 and everyone was gathered in front of the TV for the countdown.

“I’ve never had a New Year’s kiss before,” Shepard confessed. “This could be another first.”

“That’s a bold assumption. I don’t know how I’ll be feeling in-” his eyes glanced at the TV. “Forty-seven seconds.”

“Well, I’ll remain hopeful,” Shepard replied. “It’s supposed to bring good luck and good fortune.”

“But is not doing it  _ bad _ luck?” Kaidan asked,

“Do you want to take that chance?” Shepard asked.

“Well I suppose I gotta make a decision fast,” Kaidan replied. Everyone began to count down from ten. Shepard just faced Kaidan and watched his new crush smile at him tenderly. He began to lean in and Kaidan did as well.

“ONE!” everyone around them chanted. Their lips met just as the TV got loud with firecrackers, air horns, and cheers. 

They broke apart and looked at each other with a happy smile. “I decided good luck was worth it,” Kaidan stated.

“I could use a little luck,” Shepard said as he leaned in foward to kiss him again.

The party wrapped up and everyone was headed out back home for the evening. Tali was going to drive Jack and Ashley home safely. 

Kaidan and Shepard were approaching their car when Ashley hastily made her way towards the two of them.

“Yes, Ash?” Kaidan replied.

“Tali totally said she really needs your help getting Jack into her seat belt,” she said with an insincere tone. Kaidan played along and looked over at the car and saw the both of them already in their seats through the window.

“Uh-huh,” he said. “And you’re positive you’re not trying to get alone time with Shepard to threaten him or anything or say something awkward about us?”

“I would never,” she said in her tone. “Scout’s honor.” She even held her hand up with the scout pose and a wink directed at the two of them.

“Sounds serious,” Shepard added comically. “Go help Jack. I’ll be fine.” Kaidan walked away giving Ashleya glare, causing her to laugh. “Is this the ‘Don’t kurt Kaidan or you’ll come to New York and kill me’ speech?”

“Kind of sort of,” Ashley said. “I think you’re more worried about Kaidan calling it quits on his end. He’s sort of scared to commit. There’s a lot of unknown variables.” Shepard nodded understandingly. “But you have me in your corner. I know there’s talk about the warehouse, and, if the worst case happens, don’t be afraid to stay with Kaidan because of what this town might think. Us here know you’ve been trying. Jeff knows you’ve been trying. The ones who know better in Kaidan’s circle won’t hate you for anything. Just don’t give up on Kaidan. Even if he withdraws when he’s scared, don’t give up. Give him a little space, I’ll make him feel better on this side and I’ll have him running back to you. Unless, of course, you fuck up in which case, I will fly to New York and kill you.”

Shepard laughed at the threat and smiled at Ashley’s understandingness. “I appreciate you, Ashley. I’m really glad Kaidan has a friend like you.”

“I’m the best thing that’s ever happened to him, but you can be a close second,” she stated.

“I’ll take it,” he added.

“Come here,” she said, approaching him. The two hugged tightly, cementing their new alliance to win over Kaidan. They broke apart and she smiled at Shepard.

“Text me if you need Kaidan advice or blackmail,” she said.

“I will, for the advice. I don’t think blackmail will be needed,” Shepard replied.

“Suit yourself,” she said, making her way back to Tali’s car. Shepard got into Kaidan’s truck and waited for his date to return.

“So, what did Ashley want?” Kaidan asked as he entered the truck and put on his seatbelt.

“She just wanted me to know that she’s still number one and I can only ever aspire to be second in your life,” Shepard replied, which wasn't a lie at all.

“She actually said that didn’t she? Oh, I hate her sometimes,” he mocked.

“She’s nice. I like her a lot,” Shepard said.

“I do too,” Kaidan replied. He put the truck in drive and they made their way back to the house for the evening.

*******

*******

Shepard held Kaidan’s hand their entire walk up the stairs into the bedroom. Shepard carefully closed the door behind them and then pushed Kaidan against the wall in a rough, but carefully restrained manner. He shoved his mouth on Kaidan’s and immediately began to grab at Kaidan’s crotch through his jeans.

“So you want to start the new year this way, huh?” Kaidan asked in between kisses.

“I do,” Shepard said confidently. He placed one last kiss on Kaidan before running his hands under Kaidan’s shirt to remove it over his head. He quickly got on his knees, leaving a few kisses along Kaidan’s abs on the way down before he quickly worked to undo his pants.

Once they were loose enough, Shepard pulled them down, seeing Kaidan already hard in his briefs. Shepard elected not to take it out just yet, and instead ran his mouth over the fabric to tease Kaidan.

Kaidan didn’t seem to mind, however. He put his hand on the back of Shepard’s head and rubbed his shaved scalp as Shepard kissed and used his lips on the bulge in front of him.

Shepard was tipsy, full of liquid courage, and was only prolonging his own satisfaction, so he decided to finally tug down Kaidan’s underwear and release Kaidan’s erection. Shepard swallowed all of him, causing Kaidan to curse under his breath. Shepard pulled his head back, keeping his eyes locked on Kaidan before taking more of Kaidan again.

“I like whatever’s gotten into you,” Kaidan sated in a low, husky voice as he leaned back and let Shepard worship him. 

Shepard took his mouth off of him and stroked Kaidan’s length with his hand. “This is just what you do to me. I just want to give you the treatment you deserve.”

Shepard stood up to remove his own shirt and pants, finally getting naked in front of Kaidan. He grabbed Kaidan by the hand and brought him over to the bed where Shepard surprised him by getting on all fours on the bed.

“So I get to top tonight?” Kaidan asked with an intrigued expression.

“Yes, sir,” Shepard said. He brought his chest to the bed and made his ass go higher for Kaidan. Kaidan grabbed each side of Shepard’s muscular military ass and squeezed the muscles arousingly. Shepard let out a low moan as he was massaged. His eyes opened wide in delight as he felt Kaidan’s tongue slide into him.

“Glad you’re into this. This feels so good, Kaidan,” Shepard muttered. Kaidan didn’t need to give a reply, his enthusiasm confirmed well enough that he was into this. His tongue picked up pace working Shepard open. Shepard felt himself getting more and more turned on by the moment. He couldn’t wait to have his new potential boyfriend inside of him. 

Kaidan spanked his ass playfully, causing Shepard to yelp. He wasn’t expecting Kaidan to be as dominant as he was, but he was extremely grateful for it. He usually was the dominant one with his hookups but it was fun being on this end for once, and it was nice having someone he could trust.

Shepard felt Kaidan stop and then he heard the end table drawers open up. He grinned in anticipation knowing Kaidan was ready to fuck him as well. He took a deep breath to ease his nerves before he felt Kaidan rub the tip of his dick up and down the entire middle of his ass.

“I’m ready, Kaidan,” Shepard encouraged. “Just fuck me.” 

“As you wish,” Kaidan replied. Shepard’s breath hitched as he felt the pressure of Kaidan slowly sliding the entire length of him into his ass. He was reminded just how long it had been since he’d been on the receiving side, but he was still excited to experience this with Kaidan, he would just need to readjust. 

“You feel so tight, Shepard. I can’t wait to make you mine,” Kaidan said as he waited for Shepard to get accustomed to his dick inside him.

“I’m already yours, Kaidan. Give it to me,” he ordered.

Kaidan began to slowly slide out of Shepard and then back in. Shepard let out low groans from the stretching sensation inside of him, but his own arousal made it clear he was enjoying it. There was a pleasurous feeling with Kaidan moving inside him and pressing up against his prostate. 

Shepard was waiting for more, but Kaidan was still going slow, so he thought he should make his desire clear. Shepard pushed himself back on Kaidan’s dick, meeting him halfway.

“Fuck, Shepard,” Kaidan replied. “You must want this bad.”

“I do, Kaidan,” Shepard confirmed. Kaidan picked up the pace with his thrusts and Shepard continued to push himself back onto Kaidan. The pressure was perfect inside of Shepard and his moans got louder, along with the clapping sound of the two of them colliding together.

“You feel so amazing, Shepard,” Kaidan complimented as he slammed into Shepard repeatedly.

“Fuck me just like that, Kaidan,” Shepard encouraged.

They continued like that for multiple moments before Kaidan slowed down and removed himself out. “Lay on your side,” Kaidan ordered.

“Yes, sir,” Shepard replied. He laid down on the bed and had Kaidan slide behind him. Kaidan slid one arm under one of Shepards legs to hold him open and the other slid under Shepard for support, and was playfully holding onto and massaging one of his pecs.

Shepard moved the arm he wasn’t using to support himself to his dick to stroke himself as Kaidan slid back into him.

“Oh my god,” Shepard moaned, enjoying this new angle that guided Kaidan right to his sweet spot.

Kaidan began to thrust again slow, but firmly, making sure every thrust hit Shepard exactly where it needed. Shepard let out a moan with every impact inside of him. Kaidan eventually began to pick up the pace to really work Shepard open.

Shepard felt his body tense up and electrify with heat and pleasure. “I’m so close!” he exclaimed.

A few more strokes and he emptied himself onto his hand and the sheets underneath him as Kaidan continued to spit his way through Shepard.

Shepard just relaxed in the psot-orgasm eurphoria and feeling of Kaidan holding him close along with all of the pleasure that was happening inside of him for a few moments until Kaidan’s breathing got heavier and his moans getting louder. He felt Kaidan shake behind him and his thrusts became slowed and final once again as Kaidan rode out his orgasm within Shepard.

Kaidan kissed the back of Shepard’s neck repeatedly as they both laid still, catching their breath.

Kaidan got up and went towards the bathroom to return with a clean towel for the both of them. He leaned down to kiss Shepard as he rubbed the towel over his hands for him.

“Such a gentleman,” Shepard murmured.

“Well, just trying to give you what you deserve in return.” he kissed Shepard again and crawled into the bed with him. Shepard reached to turn the end table lamp light off. Shepard felt Kaidan wrap his arms around him, keeping him safe and secure, and Shepard tried to just enjoy this night and this moment, and not think about what would come tomorrow morning.


	9. Chapter Nine

Shepard and Kaidan woke up together again and had their last breakfast together. It was solemn, but hopeful. They both agreed that they would see where things go. They’d text, not too much, but when they thought about each other, and they’d call and Facetime on occasion. 

Kaidan wanted to take Shepard to the airport, but the chauffers were picking them up just as they’d dropped them off. 

“I’ll give the keys back to my dad, I guess,” Kaidan replied as the drivers pulled up in front of the house.

“Tell him it was good meeting him,” Shepard replied.

“I will,” Kaidan replied. 

They kissed goodbye and hugged one final time before Shepard walked to the car.

“It was good meeting you, Kaidan. Thank you for making Shepard more tolerable,” Garrus said as he shook Kaidan’s hand.

“It was my pleasure,” Kaidan replied.

“I’m sure it was,” Garrus joked, causing Kaidan to chuckle. “Bye, boy scout.”

Garrus entered the car and they drove off, Shepard tried to look back at Kaidan for as long as possible before he faded from view.

The next day, they were back at work. Shepard and the rest of them waited for Mr. Sivvmann to arrive. Shepard was dreading the news about how they were going to proceed with the Citadel branch. 

Mr. Sivvmann finally entered the board room and took his place at the head of the table. “Morning, everybody,” Mr. Sivvmann announced. “I hope we’re all prepared to make some changes for this new year.”

“I know I am,” Miranda said with a condescending tone. Kasumi cracked a faint smile. Kasumi had brought her Vice President of Legal, Thane, with her for this meeting, which was odd. 

“Kasumi, shall we begin with you. You brought a guest today, you must have some news,” Sivvmann stated.

“I believe I do,” she said.

The doors to the conference room opened up and two uniformed police officers entered. Everyone other than Miranda, Kasumi, and Thane looked surprised.

“What is the meaning of this?” Sivvmann asked.

“Elun Sivvmann, you are under arrest for embezzling funds out of Elusive Technologies,” the police officer stated.

“I thought it was highly suspicious Sivvmann wanted to make drastic financial cuts to a profitable branch of ours. I had my suspicions for a while, but with Kasumi’s help, we found enough evidence of missing money and suspicious account transfers, abd deals, etc. Sivvmann wanted to close this branch so any money he pocketed could have been at the fault of a bad business decision.”

“This is outrageous, there is no evidence because it isn’t true,” Sivvmann protested.

“Then your lawyers should have an easy time dismissing the impressive dossier we have compiled against you,” Miranda said. “Or maybe they won’t since it’s pretty thorough.”

The police ushered him out of the meeting room where they were left alone.

“I am here to facilitate the election of an interim Chief Executive Officer until you are able to arrange a filling role. The interim should be a board member present. The permanent CEO when the time comes for that can come from this board, or you may hire outside. Mr. Sivvmann’s stocks will be divided evenly among all board members to be resold to the public as you see fit,” Thane explained.

“I nominate Shepard for the Interim,” Miranda volunteered. “His work sees the company most broadly.”

“Seconded,” Kasumi stated.

“You’d be an excellent choice,” Jacob added.

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I feel that I need to decline.” Shepard said. “We’re going to be hit hard with negative press and a loss in a lot of our stocks when news gets out. We’ll need to bounce back financially. I believe Miranda is the best to oversee our recovery. After all, it was her hard work that uncovered these events. I nominate her,” Shepard protested.

“Then I will second that,” Jacob replied.

“I suppose I can shoulder that responsibility for the time being,” she stated. 

“Any last nominations?” Thane asked. There were no more additions. “All in favor?”

“Aye,” everyone stated.

“All opposed?” There was only silence.

“Miranda Lawson is the new interim Chief Executive Officer of Elusive Technologies,” Thane stated. “The board will also need to approve a new salary.”

“Before we get to that,” Miranda stated. “I want to discuss the Citadel branch. I know we thought Central region would be best for the new Omni Tool product, but after some calculations, it would be better financially to expand one Western region and one Eastern region than host any new facilities. Shipping inward is better financially than shipping outward, plus reduced air fare in each direction towards other countries. Also, expanding existing facilities has less upfront costs than brand new centers, especially when we account for training and transporting and hosting trainers. You said the Citadel branch has a bunch of people who have applied but it was already at max capacity, well, this can be a good solution for them. We keep Citadel and expand. And I suggest we expand Boston as well. That’s one of our more cost-effective Eastern properties.”

“I like that plan, Miranda,” Shepard stated. “This will be extremely positive for the people of Citadel. I actually have a suggestion I’d like to make. It’s more so a personal request. When the time comes to begin the manufacturing of the Omni Tool, I’d like to work remotely in Citadel to ensure expansion and on-site operations are running smoothly. If possible.”

“Well, I’m not opposed to the idea. When it’s closer to the time, we can look into the budget. I assume we’d like Vakarian in Boston?” Miranda asked.

“If he’s open to it,” Shepard said. “Depending on how far along Liara comes with her programming and what track she decides on, perhaps she can be on site.”

“That’d be a big responsibility, and she has little experience,” Miranda replied.

“Liara is a hard worker and she’s already familiar with the work in my departments. She can report directly to me. Worst case, she could be a good assistant to Garrus, but I agree we should discuss more when we are closer. A lot of variables at play,” Shepard replied.

“Agreed, but these do fall under your department’s responsibilities, and we trust your leadership. These will be very big investment endeavors, and there is a lot of risk, especially when we are about to lose investors. But this technology is groundbreaking, and I am confident that if we work hard and make smart decisions, we can come out on top of this,” Miranda lectured. “Let’s focus on getting the branches ready for manufacturing. We’ll publically announce approximately six months from now once news of the change of leadership has settled, and manufacturing can begin this time next year. It seems far away now, but 2020 will go by fast if we’re actively making progress towards our goals.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Shepard said.

  
  


Shepard made his way back to his office where Liara was waiting. “Hello, Shepard,” she greeted cheerfully. “I’ve missed you.”

“You too, Liara,” Shepard stated. “I hope you had a good Christmas.”

“I did,” she stated. “How about yourself? I heard a little rumor from Vakarian that you met someone?”

“Remind me to fire him later,” Shepard joked. “Yes, I did. Which reminds me, there’s something I’d like to do.”

  
  
  


William and Kaidan were cleaning up their rental house together. They were mopping and polishing the floors, dusting and disinfecting the countertops, and washing the towels and linens.

William’s cell phone began to ring, disrupting their cleaning. William set down his supplies to take his phone out. 

“Who is it?” Kaidan asked.

“It’s the bank,” William said nervously. He answered the phone and held it up to his ear. “Hello?”

“Good Morning, sir. This is Urdnot Wrex from Vancouver National Bank calling in. Is this William Alenko?” the man asked.

“Yes, this is,” William replied. “How can I help?”

“I am calling regarding your mortgage on a house at 3315 Maple Brick Way in Citadel. We received a call from Civil Sivvillian Charities, the charity organization owned and operated by Elusive Technologies. They stated that you have received a $10,000 donation towards your mortgage, which was about half of the remaining balance. We have verified their credentials and confirmed that this offer is valid. Since we would directly apply their payment towards your account, your taxes are not affected since you are never in possession of this excess $10,000 dollars. We will be sending you the information for your own review and give you time to accept. Can you verify the email address we can send those documents to?” 

“Uhm, yes, it is ‘william.alenko@ltechmail.net’,” William stated.

“Well, we will get you all of those documents for your verification. It’s a generous offer and we hope that you will accept. Thank you for your time, Mr. Alenko.”

“You too,” William said as he disconnected the call.

Kaidan looked at the confused expression on his father’s face and he immediately began to worry. “What’s wrong?”

“I think you’ve got what the kids call a ‘Sugar Daddy’,” William said with a laugh. 

  
  


Shepard arrived at his condo and made himself a dinner of seasoned chicken breast and a side of green beans. He brought his plate over to his dining room table where Liara’s gift for him was. He unwrapped it to find a pair of bowling shoes in his favorite colors. There was a note as well that read:

“Since you want to be a pinhead all the time and be alone, I’m hoping you’ll  _ spare  _ some time once in a while to be social. Get out of your comfort zone a bit. Try bowling. Try to join a league. So something to let loose and have fun. 

Love, Liara”

Shepard chuckled at the humorous message and texted Liara. “Thank you for the shoes. I will try my best.”

“You better.” she replied.

He was about to sit down and begin eating when his phone rang and saw Kaidan’s name across the display. He had a deep breath, knowing what this was going to be about.

He answered the phone and nervously held the phone up. “Hey, Kaidan.”

“Don’t ‘Hey, Kaidan’ me, Shepard,” Kaidan replied annoyed. “What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that I could do a little bit of good with the excess amount of money I have and am not using,” Shepard replied.

“We do not need your pity,” Kaidan replied, sternly.

“This is not pity,” Shepard said. “This is allowing you to get a little back on your feet. You and your dad won’t need to pay for an apartment  _ and  _ a house. I didn’t pay it all off! I just wanted to ease the burden a bit. It’s more so a present for your dad than you.”

“This is too much,” Kaidan replied.

“I’m technically getting a tax break out of it, if that helps at all. You’d be doing me a favor too,” Shepard argued.

“I don’t want to be indebted to you,” Kaidan replied. 

“You’re not. We can still break up at any time. I definitely don’t want you to feel like you owe a relationship to me,” Shepard explained. “That is your childhood home, your mother is a part of that house, and you and your father deserve to be there.”

Kaidan was silent on the other line. “The branch is staying open. Not only that, we’ll be expanding it sometime this year.”

“How’d you manage that?” Kaidan asked.

“You’ll see some news articles soon I imagine,” Shepard replied. “Just enjoy the house, Kaidan. Please. You don’t owe me anything at all. This is not a down payment on us or anything. This is not pity. This is merely a thank you for you showing me how to live life. If you dump me, I’ll still be a better person because of you. If you really feel guilty about it, you can still accept the money and still rent out the house, but I hope you don’t.”

Kaidan hesitated on the line some more before sighing. “Dad already wanted to accept it. He hates being away from the house he shared with mom. But I’m still upset with you.”

“Understood,” Shepard replied. 

“We can talk more later,” Kaidan replied. 

“Okay,” Shepard said. “Bye, Kaidan.”

“Goodbye.” Kaidan stated The call disconnected and Shepard stood there, holding his phone, wondering what would become of the two of them.


	10. Chapter Ten

It was the last week of January and Jeff had asked everyone to huddle on the main floor for an important announcement. Ashley looked nervously at Tali and Jack. They knew what Shepard had been in town for, and there had been no news yet. This was finally it.

They made their way from their assembly line over to where James and Steve usually stood so they could all be next to each other. As they approached closer, they saw Jeff along  _ with  _ Shepard.

“Is Shepard good news or bad news?” Jack asked under his breath.

“Good Morning, everyone,” Shepard announced. “It is good to see you all again. I know there was a lot of speculation and concern with my visit last month regarding the audit. Major news articles are about to announce that Elun Sivvman is being charged with embezzlement. It is our belief that he was trying to have such ridiculous, unfounded cuts to this branch to take advantage of the losses and hide his illegal withdrawals. The former Chief Financial Officer and current interim CEO Miranda Lawson and I both know this branch is invaluable to our worldwide operations. I am pleased to announce that with his removal, there will be zero layoffs, and zero cuts to any of this warehouse’s operations.”

The factory workers cheered and applauded at Shepard’s news. “Additionally, this branch will be  _ expanding _ . More citizens of Citadel and nearby towns will have access to the full time jobs and benefits provided here. This location, in addition to our Boston location, will be the main manufacturers of a new revolutionary product. There is job security here with Elusive Tech, and I know that you all are perfect for the job. There will be a lot of exciting changes this 2020 year, but we’re all in it for the long haul. We’re committing our dedication to you, just as you have dedicated to us, and this new financial success we’re greatly anticipating will mean the opportunity for increased bonuses when the product is ready to be manufactured and sold in 2021. This fiscal year is wrapping up this spring, and I can say that thanks to Jeff’s excellent management and financial planning, you should all be very pleased with this year’s bonuses.”

The entire warehouse cheered louder. Ashely rolled her eyes as James was making especially dramatic hollering noises.

“We are making a large long-term investment into this branch, and all of you here. We hope that you’ll support us long-term as well. I will try to be on site more and more frequently to ensure successful implementation of our new initiatives,” Shepard announced.

  
  


Shepard drove his rental car back to the Alenko family house and parked in the front. He didn’t see Kaidan’s truck, but saw William’s.

He parked his car and made his way up to the door and rang the doorbell. He waited for a few moments before Mr. Alenko finally answered the door.

“Goodness, Shepard!” Mr. Alenko greeted. “It’s so wonderful to see you.”

“You too, Mr. Alenko,” Shepard said. “Is Kaidan home?”

“No, he’d at the diner,” William replied. “He won’t be home for another two hours.”

“Has he mentioned me at all? He’s been pretty silent since he found out the house,” Shepard replied.

‘Well,” William huffed. “We’re proud people, and this is too generous. Surely there are more deserving people in the world than us. I wanted to decline as well but-this is the last thing I have of my wife. It was heartbreaking, as an old man, to see my son work constantly, two jobs, just to support me, and we couldn’t even afford our own home. You’ve given me back something I never thought I’d get to have again. I owe you a debt of gratitude.”

“You and Kaidan do not owe me anything. And I assure you I’m not trying to buy your son or anything. I just love him, William,” Shepard said. “I do.”

“Well, I suppose you’ll just have to go ahead and tell him that yourself,” William said.

“Will do,” Shepard confirmed.

He got back in his car and made his way through town to Edi’s diner. He entered the restaurant and was greeted by Edi who had a large, excited smile on her face. She would have heard from Jeff that he would be back. She came up to him and gave him a large hug.

“It’s so wonderful to see you, Just Shepard,” she said enthusiastically with a humored smile at her ongoing joke.

“It’s wonderful to see you too,” Shepard replied. “I am presently looking for Kaidan, is he here?”

“Of course, let me lead you to a table and fetch him,” she said.

They made their way to a booth and Shepard sat down. His heart was racing with nervousness and anxiety at the thought of seeing Kaidan. How would he react? How was this going to end? 

He quickly set aside the questions as soon as he heard a familiar honey smooth voice state “Welcome to Edi’s can I get you something-”

Shepard’s face caught Kaidan off guard and he looked positively flustered. “John?” He slid into the booth with Shepard and started at the man intensely. “What are you doing here?”

“I was delivering good news to the branch. I wanted to come in person so I’d have an excuse to see you. You’ve been ignoring my texts, and if this is the end, I want proper closure,” Shepard stated. “But there’s something I want you to know first.”

Kaidan looked at him expectantly. “I love you, Kaidan Alenko.” Kaidan looked surprised at Kaidan’s confession. “I love you, and I know that this has been fast, but I can’t let you walk away without you knowing. I know this is scary and sudden, but we make each other happy. Or at least, I think I make you happy and I’d make you happy if you’d give me a proper chance.”

“I still don’t know if this is right, Shepard. You deserve more than what I’m able to provide,” Kaidan replied.

“You have already given me the world. Let yourself win for once, Kaidan,” Shepard said. “I think there’s a reason we found each other. I just want to give you what you deserve. And you deserve someone to love you for  _ you _ . You deserve someone to come home to and makes time for you the way you’ve been making time for everyone else.” Shepard reached over and held Kaidan’s hand.

“Do you have plans for dinner tonight?” Kaidan asked.

“I do not,” Shepard replied. 

Kaidan smiled softly at Shepard. “Well, I know this really nice diner that is run by a really nice lady.”

“Is the waiter hot?” Shepard asked.

“I don’t think he’ll be working tonight,” Kaidan replied. “Besides, he’s got a boyfriend.”

“A boyfriend? Really? Is that what he has?” Shepard asked, failing to hide the excitement and intrigue in his voice.

“That’s what he has,” Kaidan replied confidently. “At least, I’m pretty sure. What do you think?”

“A catch like that definitely has a boyfriend. And that boyfriend is the luckiest man in the world,” Shepard replied.

They smiled and then leaned over the table to kiss one another. Luckily, there were no other patrons in view to witness it.

“I’ll come back after your shift,” Shepard replied.

“Sounds like a plan,” Kaidan replied.

Shepard got out of the booth and made his way back to the front doors. He turned back to Kaidan who smiled fondly at him before making his way back to his car. As he drove through the town of Citadel, making his way to the Citadel Motel he had rented just in case things didn’t go well, he really took the time to marvel at the beautiful scenery. The town had inspired him and helped him grow into a better person. He thought about the people here, and Kaidan, and Shepard realized he was thinking of Citadel as a  _ home  _ in the way that New York never fully was. 

He looked forward to this new adventure with Kaidan and the new growth he’d experience with his company. He hoped everything would pan out in his favor. Him and Kaidan were extremely new, and there would be a lot to work through, but he was ready and excited to try.

He’d have to send Elun a thank you card in prison. His actions helped him meet Kaidan. Had it not been for his attempt at embezzling more, he never would have had such an amazing Christmas in Citadel.


End file.
